


Parallels

by Wrong_Password



Category: Original Work
Genre: #NaNoWinner2018, F/M, Fox - Freeform, M/M, NaNoWriMo, Sci-Fi, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 12:31:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 183,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15339930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wrong_Password/pseuds/Wrong_Password
Summary: It isn't easy being an exchange student, I can say that much for certain, and it's even harder being a different species than all the other students.Yeah, well, what's a fox to do?--Fifteen (vulpine)-year old Theodore Aspen had no idea what he was getting into when he signed up to be one of the first two Venturers- exchange students between the parallel universes, but it certainly wasn't this- getting his tail stepped on, gum spat into his fur, being called a freak...All he really wants is to go home to his Terra, but when invaders shut the gateway down, he is forced to make a decision that he had never dreamed of- fight for his Terra, or fight for his friends' Earth.How do I know that?Well, that's easy. Theo Aspen? That's me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm trying not to die, and I'm not doing a great job of it...





	1. Flying Fox

Chapter One: Flying Fox

 

Okay, so, just so I can clear the record, I’m having a pretty flocking  _ awful _ day at school, and if my tail gets stepped on just one more time, well… Let’s just say that that wouldn’t be good for any party involved, whether human or mammal, and, um, leave it at that.

 

As much as my tail might hurt like hell right now, though, I can’t, in all honesty, say that I blame my fellow students, because just like I’m so used to having to watch where mammals’ tails are, humans, so it seems, don’t have any, and so I’m feeling pretty dang foolish. I’m the outsider here, though, that’s the problem. If I do anything, it’s not going to matter what anyone else does, oh, no, because like I said,  _ I’m _ the outsider,  _ I’m _ the one with a snout and fur and tail, not the other way around. If I do anything, I’ll be the one in trouble. It comes with the territory, I suppose, but what can I do? No human’s going to believe a fox, after all, so what does that say to any sane mammal?

 

I don’t know, because I’m not entirely sane, but what I  _ do  _ know is that I’m  _ really _ going to need to keep my muzzle shut, because it’s only third period on my first day, and I’ve already been sent down to the principal’s office once today. From what I’ve heard about human culture, the principal is supposed to be your pal. Me, though? Yeah, right, no luck to be had there.

 

Add that all up, and I’m coming to realize that the Human Culture 202 classes that I’ve taken have unfortunately neglected to teach me anything about the fact that it’s apparently not acceptable to bare one’s teeth at a human, probably the one thing we really  _ needed _ to know.

 

Yeah, it’s been an interesting morning, to say the very least, and I already feel like I’ve gotten myself into a hole that’s a  _ lot _ harder than I’ll ever be able to get out of. Yeah, it hasn’t been good, and if I had known what I was getting myself into when I signed up to be one of the first two Venturers, well, then I don’t know if I would have gone for the exchange program. Hindsight’s 20-20, but it’s done now, I’m here on the humans’ Earth instead of on my Terra on the other side of the Bridge that gaps the Two Worlds, and I’m just going to have to suffer through it and hope that I don’t end up with a permanent kink in my tail. From the way things are going right about now, though, well, it doesn’t look good.

 

I can say this, at the very least: I have my friend Alaina to help me out, thank goodness, being a gray wolf apparently doesn’t come with the same stereotypes as does being a red fox. From what I’ve managed to gather over the course of the last two classes (which we both have together, thank the gods), wolves are respected and honored, even treated like gods, but a fox like me? I seem to have drawn the short straw in terms of the way humans view my species, but what the heck am I supposed to do about that? I mean, I’m a fox, there’s no way to change that, is there?

No, there isn’t, and besides, I’m sure that these crazies will warm up to me eventually. Whether or not they actually do, though, that none of that’s going to matter if I’m late to third period, and I think the gods are trying to play with me, because my next class just so happens to be A and P. We had that back on Terra, but that just so happens- sorry, happen _ ed _ \- to be mammalian anatomy- foxes, wolves, leopards, the like, but in another unfortunate falling short, it just so happens that yep, you guessed it! No human anatomy classes. Oh, well, I suppose, we can’t be that different, can we?

 

_ Forty-Two Minutes Later _

 

Okay, so I think that it’s a good thing that I haven’t had lunch yet, because, well, let me just put it this way- the class’s focus was on the aforementioned  _ ‘anatomy’ _ portion of the class, and I think I’ll never think about myself in the same way. Urgh, that was disgusting…even just thinking about it’s making me start to gag...

 

I know that I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again- I had  _ no _ clue what I was getting into, but I sure as heck didn’t think it was going to be quite like this. Then again, I’m a newbie here, new all around, and I’m still feeling kind of overwhelmed by all the hustle and bustle, or rather, lack thereof. Back on Terra, there were at least enough mammals in the halls at pretty much all times so that if I wanted to hide in the throngs (which is what I really want to do right now) I could. Unfortunately for this vulpine, there’s no such luck right here, right now. Instead, I’m faced with the fact that I need to keep on trucking through this day, and- ow! Score another bruise for my tail, that human was too glued to whatever blue glowing thing he’s holding to have seen my tail.

  
  


Yeah, I need to keep my tail up, because, as I was saying,  I’ve just managed to get it stepped on for the tenth? twentieth? time today. I don’t know if they said anything about it in my Human Culture classes back on Terra- they probably did and I was asleep, just my luck- although it’s considered rude on Terra to keep one’s tail up, because then people think that you’re  _ that _ kind of mammal, here on Earth, keeping my tail up above its usual low droop is turning out to be somewhat of a necessity.

 

You know what’s also a necessity? Getting lunch, because it’s that time of day, so I’ve been told, and thank goodness, because my stomach was starting to get quite ticked off at me for not feeding it. Well, I hope that they have decent food here on Earth, I’ve heard good things about the pizza from my fellow classmates, who, for all their ignorance in regards to my tail, are actually turning out to be decent people.

 

Just thirty more seconds to until the end of class… ten, nine….five, four, three, two, one… _ Beep! _

As soon as the bell rings, I spring forwards out of my seat and dash for the door to leave, only to have the teacher, Mrs. Maple, stop my flight just as I’m about to step out into the hall.

 

“Can you wait here for just a minute, Theo?” she asks, pointing a finger back at my seat.

 

Confused but unwilling to take any more chances today, I do as I’m told and slump into my chair, chiding myself all the while in my head for screwing up again and, as I feel my ears flatten against my skull in shame, I hate myself.

 

_ Bad fox,  _ I think.  _ Colossal screw up freak fox. _

 

“I’ll stay, “ I say, fighting the whimper from my voice. “But what did I do wrong, Mrs. Maple?”

 

“You didn’t do anything, Theo. I just want to let you know something before you go, alright?”

 

“And what’s that?” I ask, hoping she’ll just let me go, I haven’t eaten all morning and I’m hungry. Instead of doing that, she puts a paw- hand, rather, I’m always mixing the two up- on my shoulder, and I can see that she’s not angry, thank goodness, because all I’ve been discovering over the course of the past few hours is that all the preparation I’ve done throughout the last fifteen years of my life has come to naught, because this day has so far saved no expense in showing me just how truly unprepared I was- and  _ am _ \- as a student here on Earth. 

 

“Don’t let them get you down, Theo. Look, I know you’re probably not going to want to tell me or not, but I’m a mother, I have two kids of my own. I can see it on your face, Theo, you’ve had a rough day, haven’t you? Your fur’s all ruffled up, your tail is sticking straight out behind you, and you look like you’re wearing a mink collar,” Mrs. Maple says, looking at me with compassionate eyes.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, not having noticed any minks around, because as far as I know, there were only two animals at this school. Besides that, they’re too big to be collars- all the minks I know are about my height, which is a solid seventeen paws tall, and seeing as a paw is four human inches, I think…..  In other words, yeah, they’d be too big and too heavy to be a collar.

 

“You don’t know?” she asks, looking confused.

 

“Do I not know  _ what _ ?” I ask, now even more puzzled. I’m no expert on Earth anything, to be quite honest. As much as I’ve already come to realize that unfortunate reality, it just hurts my feelings to have it rubbed in my face, whether or not the person means their words to be an insult or not.

 

“Here on Earth, Theo,” Mrs. Maple says, “animals never rose to sentience like they did on the other side of the Bridge.”

 

“Well, yeah,” I say, wondering why she’d think that I wouldn’t know that. I may not be the best in terms of my knowledge of human culture, but of course I know that animals never rose to sentience on Earth like they did on Terra, and now I’m even more perplexed. “What makes you think I wouldn’t know?”

 

“Here’s why, Theo,” she says, “on Earth, minks are- and please don’t shoot the messenger here- killed for their fur, and then that fur is used in coats, or, if you want to be more specific, the collars of coats.” Noticing the look of absolute horror and disgust on my face, she smiles apologetically. “You didn’t know?”

 

“What do you think?” I ask, feeling my hackles rise for the who-knows-how-manyeth time that day. “No, I didn’t know, you’re right, I was wrong. Now, if you’ll please let me go to lunch, I’m starving.” With that, I snatch my tail up so that way no more idiots will step on it, and try to find my way to the cafeteria. I have no idea where it is, but I can smell it.

 

I follow my nose until I come to the cafeteria doorway, and go find my way to the end of the line, and I’m almost into the serving line when a gruff baritone voice comes from behind me and over my head.

 

I turn around and gulp, because the human who I’m now facing is over four paws taller than me, and he doesn’t look too happy.

 

“Uh...hi?” I manage to yip out. “How are ya?”

 

In lieu of an answer, he picks me up by my arms, and before I can react, I’m sailing through the air, and that doesn’t quite register until I crash into Alaina’s lunch table. As I pick myself up, I notice that everyone’s staring at me, and I can’t fight the fear from my heart.

 

_ Oh, sheep dip, _ I think.  _ Well, I’m flocking screwed. _

 

As if I’ve summoned him out of thin air, the lunch monitor comes over to the table off of which I’m picking myself up, and from the look on his face, I’m going to be the one in trouble, not the asshole who chucked me over here, oh no no, of course not.

Yeah, that seems about right, seeing as this planet just seems to hate me. I can’t seem to understand why, though, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

The lunch monitor doesn’t say anything else to me, only points his finger at my battered self, and then points out the door. “You,” he says. “Fox. Troublemaker. Get out and I don’t want to see you again. I think you know where you need go.”

 

“But-,” I try to protest, but the monitor cuts me off, and in that split second I decide that I don’t want to risk it. Once again, this world has shown me just how different it is from what I thought it would be. I had really been hoping that I might have been able to escape from some of the stereotypes if I just acted like as a human as I could, but no such luck. I don’t want to push it with this guy, so I decide to just do what I’m told and head out of the cafeteria, tail between my legs, and ears splayed flat against the top of my head for the second time in just under four and a half hours.

 

It’s an endless walk from the cafeteria to the principal’s office, and thankfully ( _ not _ ), I already know the way there. Of course, the food that’s clinging to my fur and clothes isn’t helping anything- even during lunch hour in this school, the halls are still full of people, and each and every single one of them that I pass by on my journey down the hallway gives me a wide-eyed stare, as if they can’t understand why I’m covered in spaghetti sauce and bread crumbs. I don’t understand how they can’t, not with all the pains in the tail that this building seems to serve as a haven for, but whatever. They can go flock themselves, for all I care.

 

Three minutes later, face burning red, tail starting to cramp from the way it’s managing to keep itself wrapped around my legs, I make my way into the principal’s office for the second time today, and make my way to the chair right in front of his desk, ears flattened against my skull in shake.

 

“Well, sit down, Mister Aspen, I don’t have all day,” he says, gesturing for me to sit down with a sweep of his flabby arm. He smiles sadly, then begins to speak, his fingers drumming the well-worn oak surface of his desk. “What did you do this time?”

 

“Sir,” I begin, feeling my tail start to twitch in frustration at the entirely of this whole unfair situation, “I didn’t do anything, sir. All I did was get into the line to get my lunch, and then from behind me comes this huge jerk- pardon my language- and he decided that he saw me as an enemy, and well, just to put it simply, sir, foxes don’t fly well, but apparently we land in plates of spaghetti and sauce _very_ well,” I say, gesturing at my sauce-coated self, fighting my instinctive urge to flex my claws. This guy, if I don’t play my cards just right, is going to think I’m a threat, and like I said earlier, I’m the odd one out, the one who’s going to be the simplest mammal on which someone can pin the blame.

“I see,” he says, the drumming of his fingers picking up pace exponentially, until I can’t tell whether or not they’re on his desk. “Now, I like you, Theo, I really do, but please, be honest with me. The people in this school aren’t mean. I know that for a fact, I’ve served here as their principal for the last three and a half decades. All I’m asking you to do is be honest with me, Mister Aspen. What did you do, young man, to get yourself covered in spaghetti sauce?”

 

I sigh, knowing that I’ve managed to get myself stuck into a situation that’s going to be bad any way that it turns out- as I’ve heard it put, a lose-lose scenario. Well, I’m going to be in trouble if I tell the truth, and to me, that means that I’m going to be in trouble if I lie, too, but this idiot’s probably going to believe the lie, with my luck, but at least I’ll be out of here, out of this room.

 

“It was my fault, sir,” I fib, feeling an icy fist settle into my stomach. “I tried to trip him. He pushed in front of me in line, and I tried to push him out of the way.”

 

“I see,” the principal says, fingers now resting unmovingly on the top of the desk. “I was expecting better things from you, Mister Aspen, better things, seeing as you’re one of the first two representatives of Terra ever to attend school here on Earth. I don’t know what they taught you back at home, Mister Aspen, but such behavior is not allowed on Earth. Detention is in the cafeteria after school, Theo, and I’m going to be expecting to see your face there for the next two weeks. Do you understand that?”

 

“Yes, sir,” I mumble.

 

“Good. Now get out of my office, and go get clean.”

Five minutes later, I’m standing in the gym’s sole locker room, rinsing the last bit of sauce out of my fur. I hate the feeling of sodden fur, but what choice do I have, really? I don’t want to smell like sauce for the rest of the afternoon, and so here I am, naked and wet, letting the cold water wash the sauce away and the stress with it. 

 

Noticing the full-length mirrors across the room, I turn the shower off and shake myself dry, then go to take stock of myself. Needless to say, I don’t like what I see. My usually pristine red fur is frazzled, my ears are still droopy, and my tail feels like somebody cracked it.

Now, even though  I didn’t fight back, that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t have. I’ve had over a decade of combat training, so I’m pretty well muscled, even if it doesn’t really look it. I’m not like other mammals, I’ve still managed to stay slim, and my still  _ very _ damp fur has decided that it wants to cling to me.

 

See, that’s the problem with being skinny: now I’m soaked to the flesh and absolutely freaking freezing, and what am I supposed to do about that? I don’t have much time left, it’s nearly the end of lunch.

 

Well, I suppose I could hug my tail to warm up and dry off, but that would take forever, but then again, what options do I have? My clothes are soaked, I’m soaked, and I’m running out of time, I realize as I catch sight of a clock.

 

At least there’s paper towels, right? My fur’s going to look like scat, but unless I want to look like a mess, well,  **_scat._ ** I’m not usually one to swear, but I think that this occasion certainly calls for it, especially considering that the rest of my clothes are covered in sauce and soaking wet, and I sure hope nobody walks in on-

 

“Theo?” comes Alaina’s voice from outside the locker room. “Can I come in?”

 

Tired and frustrated, my brain automatically says ‘yes, why not,’ and those are the words that come out of the end of my muzzle before I can stop them. In she walks, only to see me, sopping wet and naked on the bench by the lockers. When she does, her paws go to her muzzle in shock, a small gasp slipping out the end of her mouth.

 

“Oh, Theo, they got you too?” she asks, and it’s then that I notice that she’s as covered as sauce as I am, if not even more so. “I heard a crash, but I didn’t see you leave.”

 

“Yeah, they got me,” I say. “They turned me into a flying fox for a second or two there, you?”

 

“I thought I was the only one who those assholes were after, but I guess not, huh?” Alaina says.  “I got turned into a flying wolf myself, and then those jerks decided to dump their plates on my head. I just ran out, didn’t wait for You Know Who to show up and tell me that it was my fault. I overheard what happened at your table, and I’m not in the mood to get in trouble already, but it wouldn’t surprise me if my having run away from trouble is just going to get me in trouble, you know?”

 

“I get it, I really do,” I say. “Look, I’m sorry I’m not more decent, Alaina, but the sauce got all over, and tomatoes make my fur itch. Speaking of that, would you like my help getting the sauce out of your fur? Looks to me like you got it in even more places than I did.”

 

“No, but thanks anyway,” she says. “I like you quite a bit, Theo, but I’m not quite comfortable enough around male mammals to let you do that. I hope you understand, Theo. I’m not trying to be mean, you know, but no, I don’t feel quite comfortable enough to let you wash me. I  _ am _ , however, going to need help getting my clothes from my locker after I’m done, if you don’t mind.”

 

“Not at all, not one bit, Alaina, just let me get my own clothes on first, okay? My fur’s not exactly thick enough to cover everything up. You don’t want to see me ‘in the fur,’ do you?”

 

“N-no, I don’t,” she says, a blush lighting up under the fur on her cheeks. “Go on, get dressed, I have no interest in seeing a naked tod, so hop to it.”

 

I do as I’m told, spinning the combo dial on my locker until it unlocks and snagging my dry set of clothes out, then stuffing the wet clothes I was wearing into the locker and slam it shut, twisting the dial again until I hear the  _ click _ that means it’s shut completely.

 

After that’s all set and done, I dash over to a stall and shake my fur out again, and thankfully, all of the water that was still in my fur seems to have managed to dry up, and so I tug on my clothes as quickly as possible, and Alaina follows suit. We’re both cleaned up and presentable, hopefully.

 

Checking all around us to make sure that nobody’s caught sight of us, we head out, and thankfully, I think we’re safe. The halls are still empty, save for the few stragglers that seem to hang around the building instead of going to class, and thank goodness as well that we still seem to have a minute before the end of the period. Me, I’m not too keen on the idea of having to go back into that hellhole affectionately known as the cafeteria, and so I point up the hallway towards the Algebra classroom, where Mrs. Neve is going to be expecting us, or so my schedule says.

 

When we get there, however, Mrs. Neve isn’t waiting. In fact, there’s no one in the room at all, and judging by the fact that the lights have gone off, I’m going to guess that she hasn’t been in in quite a while.

 

Instead of going out to look for her, both us us take seats at the front of the room. Now, it’s not as if we don’t know how to do this sort of math, I mean, come on, we’ve crossed the Bridge between the Two Universes, and besides that, you have to at least know how basic algebra works to have even been considered for the Voyager program. Then again, as this world just can’t help proving to me over and over and over again, humans seem to have a hard time understanding that on our side of the Bridge, it was us animals who rose to sentience, not the apes.

 

Case in point- we’re pretty dang smart, and yet for whatever reason, the powers that be have conspired to place both of us into the most basic math class that Earth’s high schools seem to have to offer.

 

To snap us out of our thoughts, however, the bell rings, signalling that lunch is over, and just as it does, Mrs. Neve walks in, then stops dead in her tracks and looks straight at us.

 

“Well,” she says, “I heard through the grapevine that we were going to be hosting exchange students, but for the life of me, I swear that the board never told me that they were going to be animals…”

 

“Do you have an issue with that, Mrs. Neve?” Alaina asks her, putting her paws in her pockets. “I’m sorry if you were under-informed, but we can’t exactly help what species we are, ma’am. All we’re here to do right now is learn Algebra (again), not cause any trouble, I promise,” she says, giving her her best non-threatening smile.

 

“It’s alright,” Mrs. Neve says, “it just surprised me, don’t worry..”

 

As soon as she finishes her sentence, the bell rings from up on high, leaving us as the only two students in the room.

 

“Excuse me,” I say, raising my paw in the air like I’ve been taught to, “but where  _ is _ everyone else? I thought that there would be more of us in this class…”

 

She sighs and puts a hand on her forehead in frustration. “There are,” she says, sighing again, “but can you guess what the other students had to say when they heard the news that came down the grapevine?”

 

“What news was that, Mrs. Neve?” Alaina asks, ears perked in curiosity.

 

Instead of answering at first, Mrs. Neve sighs one more time, then looks at us with a look of sadness that neither of us understands until she begins to speak.

 

“They didn’t want to be in class with animals,” she says, sighing. “I could have sworn that this school had taught them better, taught them not to judge a person by the color of their skin, or in either of your cases, by the color of their fur or their species. Of course, I tried to force them into coming, but they flat out refused. I even  threatened them with detention, but again, they refused to have anything to do with ‘animals.”

At that, I feel a small something inside of me snap, and I feel tears start to slip down my snout before I can stop them. I’ve already had one of the worst days of my young life, and now the students with whom I’m supposed to be learning have flat out refused to even see my muzzle?

 

 _Not. Flocking. Fair,_ I think as tears start to well in my eyes, and I hate myself for crying, hate it hate it hate it that I can’t just jam my emotions back down my throat where they well and truly belong. If there’s anything that my father taught me before he went off to war and never came back was that I should never let any mammal see that they got to me. That’s been my more-or-less guiding principle ever since.

 

To be honest, I thought that I had managed to learn to control my emotions better, but the fact that there are now tears making salty tracks down the side of my muzzle at just a slight frustration proves that I was more wrong than I ever thought that I could be, not just about school, not just about this planet, but about myself.

 

“What’s wrong, Mister Aspen?” Mrs. Neve asks. “You alright?”

 

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I sigh, pushing back the tears that are trying to spring forth and wiping away the ones that have already come to betray me with one brown-gloved paw. That done, I slump back down to my desk and cover my eyes, hearing a whimper slip through my lips.

 

“It’s okay, Theo,” she says, coming over to my desk to place a reassuring paw- sorry, hand- on my paws, and as she does so, I feel an unusual wave of calm come over me as my tail stops flicking back and forth under my desk.

 

“Oh?” I ask. “What’s that supposed to mean,’it’s okay’?”

 

“What do you think that it means?” she retorts. “I mean exactly that, Theo. You know, I bet you’ve had a rough day, the both of you. Am I right?”

 

“Um, yes….?” I say, feeling slightly confused as to why our teacher is taking the conversation in this direction, because in all honesty, I’d rather just let the whole matter drop. However, I get the feeling, based on the look in Alaina’s eyes, combined with the set of her ears and the way her white-tipped tail is curled up as if in question.

 

“That’s what I thought,” she says. “And besides that, I have plenty of experience telling when people are lying, and with mammals, it’s even easier. Come on, just tell me, both of you. What happened? I’ll wait as long as it takes, and from what I’ve heard, one of you already has detention tonight, which will be with me.”

“That’s me,” Alaina says sheepishly. “I got busted earlier for trying to defend myself from the arsehole who was stomping on my tail. I guess humans find bared teeth a little to, oh I don’t know,  _ predatory _ ? I mean, I can’t help that, I am a wolf after all, but I guess I understand…”

 

“What did you do, Alaina?” I ask, “You got into trouble, too. Let me guess, it was for ‘threatening another student?’ Yeah, that’s what I thought, I managed to ‘earn’ myself a detention for this afternoon for pretty much the exact same reason.”

 

Alaina sighs, her tail starting to twitch nervously under her again. “Why does that not surprise me, Theo, why does that not surprise me in the slightest? Let me guess, it was that jerkwad lunch monitor who gave you the detention, wasn’t it?”

 

At my sheepish smile, she herself smiles. “That’s what I thought. I don’t know how the school board still allows that arrogant bastard to even get into the building, let alone work for the school in any way, shape, or form, the tailhole...gods, now I’m just flocking pissed, you know? I mean, I hope you understand…”

 

“I do understand, Alaina,” Mrs. Neve says. “Now, I suppose that this might come as somewhat of a shock to you, but you two aren’t the first mammals to cross the bridge and then stay on our side, live on Earth. In fact, both my son and daughter are from an orphanage that took in those from your side, and it just so happens that one of them is a fox and the other a wolf like you. The difference between you and them, though, is that my son is the wolf and my daughter is the young vixen.”

  
  


“Yeah, it sure is. Now, to get back to the whole reason I brought up this topic to begin with- I’ve been homeschooling them on the side, and I’d like to bring them here, but I’m somewhat afraid for them, and I can also tell that, no offense meant in the slightest, you two are desperate for friends, and so are they.”

 

“When would be a good time for us to meet them? They sound like they’re wonderful mammals, and yeah, we’re kinda desperate for any friends, or at least I am, and it’s only my first day,” I say, feeling the heat of my blush light up my cheeks, which I can’t seem to control these days. Ever since my having crossed over to this side of the bridge between our two worlds, my emotions have been even more out of whack than they usually are.

 

Now, that’s not to say that I’m an unstable mammal. In fact, I one had one of my instructors refer to me ask the calmest and most collected mammal that they had ever seen. Of course, then they had to go and ruin in by adding three words: ‘for a fox,’ which just made me rather teed off, but the sentiment was -and still is true.

 

Anyways, I’ve been a little wonky ever since I came to Earth. I don’t know what it is, but whatever the case, Mrs. Neve has a point. I’m desperate for any kind of attention, as long as it doesn’t involve me ending up with a crimp in my tail or spaghetti sauce in my fur. In regards to that, though, my fur seems to have dried, although I can see that there seems to be a patch of fur on my tail that’s all frizzed up.

 

Thankfully for me, Mrs. Neve’s interruption snaps me out of my thoughts and brings me back into the land of the living. “Theo, are you alright?”

 

“Huh?” I ask, surprised, and then I realize that she’s talking to me, and I have no idea where my mind has been.

 

“What I was trying to ask, Mister Aspen, was if you two would be willing to serve as mentors for them. I don’t want them to end up like you, no offense meant, of course.”

 

At that, I feel a sharp spike of indignation flare in my chest, but instead of letting it get to me, I shove it back down into the pit inside of me where most of my frustration goes.

 

“Of course, Mrs. Neve,” I say, and Alaina echoes my sentiments.

 

“Sure, I’d love to,” she says, “so when would we get to meet them?”

 

“How about I have them come visit you during your stay in the cafeteria this afternoon? It would certainly make the time pass faster, that I can guarantee, and besides, they need the company, like I said. What do you say?”

 

I sigh, unsure of what I’ll be getting myself into, but I don’t suppose that the company of two like mammals is going to hurt anything, is it? No, no it is not.

 

“Sure,” I say, sticking my paw out for Mrs. Neve to shake, which she does. “You have yourself a deal, ma’am. Is there anything else that either Alaina or I could help you with? I mean, there’s still fifteen or so minutes left in class, and neither of us has anything to do with ourselves until then, unless, of course, there’s going to be a lesson today…”

 

“No,there’s not going to be a lesson for the day, at least not today, Theo. You two have already learned Algebra, if I heard right, right?”

 

This comment surprises me, because I didn’t think that she had overheard our conversation. “I didn’t think that you’d heard what we were saying, Mrs. Neve, ma’am,” I say, trying to keep my face as plain and as unrevealing as possible.

 

“You’d be surprised to find out what I hear, Mister Aspen,” she says. “And you don’t need to call me ma’am, Mrs. Neve is just fine. I may not be too young any longer, but ma’am still makes me feel old, but yes, I heard what you were saying earlier.

 

At my puzzled expression, she laughs. “Don’t worry, I’m not peeping in or anything insane like that. No, sir, I keep a baby monitor on my desk so that way I can always hear what’s going on in my room. You two know how those work, right?”

 

“Yes, of course,” Alaina says, speaking for the first time in about ten minutes, “my mom and dad used to keep one in my room to keep track of my little sister when they couldn’t be right there in her room, watching over her.”

 

“I see,” Mrs. Neve says, then turns to face me, blue-green eyes twinkling with an expression that I can’t quite read. “But to answer your earlier question, Theo, the one about a lesson today, the answer to that is no, that there isn’t going to be one. I think you two have already mastered that kind of math, haven’t you?”

 

Both of us nod simultaneously, and Mrs. Neve laughs. “That’s what I thought. And even if I hadn’t, I can’t help hearing what goes through that monitor. We’ll start next week. For now, this period is going to be set aside for planning.”

 

“Okay,” Alaina says, “but planning for what?”

 

“You’ll see tomorrow,” she says, smiling, “but for right now, relax until the end of the period, and besides, I’ll be seeing both of you after school.” She pauses for a second, then begins to speak again. “Oh, and if you could, can both of you please bring a pencil and a pad of paper, preferably ruled loose leaf, with you when you report?”

 

Noticing the look of concern that has etched itself onto Alaina’s face, she waves a hand ( _ ha! Got it right that time!)  _ dismissively in her direction. “You’re not in trouble this time, Ms. Lupa, don’t you get your tail in a twist. No, I want you to plan with me.”

 

“Plan what again?” both of us as at the same time. “Jinx!” we say. “Jinx again! Triple jinx!”

 

“But seriously, what do we need to plan for?” I ask. “Does it happen to have anything to do with your son and daughter?”

 

“Ah, okay,” Alaina says. “That sounds like a good idea to me, Theo, what do you think about it?”

 

“Sounds good to me, Mrs. Neve,” I say, my tail beginning to wag in anticipation. “I don’t like surprises, just a head’s-up.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she says, just as the bell rings to signal the end of the period, and both us us head out the door, muzzles held high for the first time that day.


	2. After-School Plans

Two hours later, both Alaina and I are waiting anxiously for the two young mammals that we’re supposed to mentor, tails flicking nervously behind each one of us, and when they hit together, for some reason that neither of us can seem to explain to ourselves or to the other, we let them twist together for the smallest fraction of a second before untwisting them and then repeating the process every five seconds or so.

After just shy of ten more minutes of waiting, Mrs. Neve enters the room, and behind her come a silver-furred vixen, as well as a tan he-wolf, who, if I’m going off of the set of his ears and the way his tail droops miserably on the cold tile of the floor, is quite scared to be here, and in all honesty, I can’t say that I blame him for feeling like that, I know I’m feeling pretty much the same way right about now.

Both members of the pair come over to where we’re seated at one of the long lunch tables- in fact, I think that it’s the same one that I landed on earlier in the day. On a side note, I never did get to eat anything, and I think I could eat a horse. Of course, not literally, that would be cannibalism, which,as far as I can tell, is a punishable offense on this side of the Bridge, it’s just a saying that I’ve learned in my Human Culture classes.

Both teenage mammals take seats across from us- the male wolf sits across from me, and the vixen sits across the table from Alaina. Both of them look absolutely terrified, the vixen’s tail is flicking around in the air behind her as if she’s trying to swat away flies with it, and the smile displayed on her muzzle looks more like a grimace than a genuine expression of happiness. I may not be the greatest at reading human facial expressions, but mammals like Alaina and I, well, those facial expressions are what I’m used to reading, so it’s not nearly as hard for me to figure out that she’s having one of the scattiest days of her life.

The same can also be said for the he-wolf sitting across the table from me- he looks like he could scat his pants at any minute, so this is going to be interesting…

“Hey, man,” I say, stretching out my paw for him to take. “My name’s Theo. Nice to meet you, what’s yours?”

“Isaac,” he says, “although I sure as heck don’t feel full of joy right at this moment.”

“Not been around humans much, eh?”

“No,” he laughs, putting a paw behind his ears sheepishly, “no I haven’t, and I’m kinda scared, but I suppose you can tell that already, can’t you?”

I smile, trying to soothe his nerves, with I’m more than willing to bet are shot. “I can, but don’t worry about it. I know I probably don’t look it, but I’m having a day that’s probably been just about as awful as yours.”

This time, it’s Isaac who laughs. “Yeah, Theo, you could say that. You know, it’s my first time outside of the neighborhood where my house is I think ever, and I’m kinda freaked out at the idea of being in school with so many humans. Mom’s been homeschooling the both of us ever since we were kits, but both of us have been pushing to go to human school ever since we were kits, and now both of us are finally getting the opportunity to do just that. Only problem is that neither of us has really spent much time around humans, and we’re kinda terrified…”

Returning the favor, this time, I laugh, and both of us smile. “I understand, man, I really do. I know I look all calm and collected, as if I have myself all together, but to be honest with you, Isaac, on the inside, I’m about as far from ‘calm and collected’ as it’s possible to be right about now without actually freaking out.”

“Really? You sure don’t look like it, and if I hadn’t known otherwise, I would say that you’ve been here for years.”

“Dang,” I whistle, “but I really hate to disappoint you, but I’ve only been on Earth for two weeks, and this is my first day.”

At my pronouncement, Isaac’s jaw drops, and he shakes his head as if to rid his mind of some undesired thought. “You’re kidding,” he says, leaning forward over the table, his tail wagging wildly behind him as if it’s trying to break off of his rear end and run away.

“No, man, I’m not kidding, this is my first day at a human school, and I don’t tell or not, but it hasn’t been going so well, and if I’m being completely honest with you, even that is a bit of an overstatement.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, tail curling up into a question mark curl behind him.

“Did you notice that my fur is a little damp?”

“Yeah, I did, but Mom’s been teaching us human social skills, and those say that it’s rude to talk about someone’s appearance like that, you know?”

“I understand completely, man,” I say. “Let me guess, it’s been a royal pain in the tail to fight your urge to let your nose start twitching and smell everything.”

“Yeah,” he says, his smile growing and his nose beginning to twitch. He notices the look I have on my face and laughs, then slaps his snout to get his nose to stop moving. “I think you can tell that I’m having a bit of trouble with that whole thing. It’s instinct, I mean, although I live on this side of the Bridge, I’ve not gotten the opportunity to go out into the world and meet other humans, and if I think about it, you two are the first mammals that I’ve met who are from the other side of the Bridge, the Terran side, in case you didn’t get where I was trying to go with that whole thing…”

He smiles sheepishly at me again, his paw ducking behind his head to hold his ears.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. “I know you’re worried about it, but you forget, I’m a mammal like you, I’m pretty much an expert at reading mammalian body language. Come on, man, what’s eating you?”

“I’m scared, Theo, I’m just scared is all. I have no idea what I’m going to do with myself. I mean did Mom tell either of you that we’re going to start tomorrow? She thinks that it’ll be a good idea to get us introduced to true human culture sooner rather than later, in her words. Me, I think it’s a crock of scat, but whatever. It’s her decision, and, not to sound as if I’m mocking,” he says, bending his forepaws like I’ve heard a dog would, “I’m a good boy, oh yes I am.”

He sighs, letting his breath out in one long huff. “Do you understand what I was doing there?”

“A little,” I say, feeling my tail start to swish back and forth beneath me in agitation. “You were trying to act like a dog, weren’t you?”

“You got it,” he says, “and I don’t know how much of this you were taught back on Terra, but wolves here? We were domesticated, most of us. Dogs are what’s left- mindless freaks who follow their human masters around like little slaves, and some days, that’s how I feel, like I have to do every single little thing without a single fricking complaint, like a dog. I’m a freaking wolf, for goodness sakes, and I’ve had to ratchet down my instincts. That’s what’s got me frustrated. I know I seem cranky all of a sudden, and I’m sorry for that, Theo. I really am looking forward to coming here to school, but I’m afraid that the humans are going to judge me, I mean, after all, all of the animals here on Earth, save for the four of us, aren’t sentient. I think that they’re going to treat me like a freak, and I’m worried about that, you know?”

“I understand completely- new culture, new people, new school, new everything. Even a new language.”

“New language? What do you mean by that?”

I laugh, then smile, hoping the sight of some of my fangs doesn’t scare Isaac. “That’s exactly what I mean,” I say. “Doesn’t sound like it, but English isn’t my first language. I’ve just been training for this exchange for pretty much my entire life, so I’ve had quite a bit of practice, in case you were wondering.”

“I was, but how did you guess that?”

“I’m pretty good at reading another mammal’s body language, like I said earlier.”

“Oh…. I see. So then I’m going to guess that Vulpine is your first language?”

“You’re a smart one, Isaac,” I say, smiling again. “Yes, vulpine is my first language. Yours?”

“English,” he says, “but I actually have been studying Vulpine for a while now, and if you wouldn’t mind teaching me a little bit more when you get the chance. I don’t mean right now, of course…”

“No, I got that,” I say, and besides that, have you seen what time it is?”

“No, I hadn’t,” he says, then looks at the watch he has strapped to his right wrist, and cries out in surprise. “Scat, scat, scat! Oh, Mom’s going to be sooooo mad at us for keeping us waiting!” he says, dashing to pick up his backpack from where he stashed it over by the window in the back of the room, then running out the door, his sister following suit, tails shot straight out behind them as they fly.

The panic doesn’t last long, though, as Mrs. Neve enters the room less than a minute and a half later, followed by one rather embarassed vixen and one even more embarassed wolf.

“Where were you two going?” she says, hand on her hip. “Did you forget that I told you that we had to take Alaina and Theo home this afternoon after detention was over?”

“No, mom,” the vixen, whose name I still have yet to learn, says, the fur on her cheeks lit a slight pink from the blush that I can only guess is there, “I didn’t forget, it just flew my mind after seeing Isaac dash out of the room like he was possessed by something.”  
“I can appreciate that,” Mrs. Neve says, letting her hand drop to her side. “I used to be just like that whenever I saw my older brother and sister run off in some mad hurry.” She smiles, then waves her hand in our direction. “Come on, everyone. I called Alaina and Theo’s host family earlier when I got the chance to tell them that they would be late and also to explain what I was planning on doing. They seemed a little frustrated and slightly upset, but they agreed to have us over for dinner tonight- spaghetti and meatballs, your favorites.”

As soon as she says that, Isaac’s tail starts wagging, slowly at first, then quickly picking up speed until it becomes one gray blur behind him, and he starts jumping up and down in what I can only assume is his natural wolfish excitement.

“Oh boy oh boy oh boy!” he says, smiling like a madfox again until his sister places a calming paw on his shoulder. “Isaac,” she says, “I know your name means joy and all, but you’re waaaay too excited. I love you, brother mine, but please don’t make a fool of the both of us…”

“Alright, Jenna, I’ll calm down,” he says, “but I’m just so excited!”

“Yeah,” the vixen, Jenna, it seems her name is, says, smiling, then pats him on the back with a reassuring paw. “I am too. Now come on, I’m starving!”

With that, we all dash out the doors as quickly as possible and pile into Mrs. Neve’s car, a worn Honda Odyssey, and slam the doors shut.

Five minutes later, we pull up outside the house that Alaina and I share with our host family, the Maranzas. As we pile out of the car, I can smell the wonderful aroma of oregano and basil and hot spaghetti sauce waft through the open window as Mama- Mrs. Maranza- hums her favorite tune, Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore,” while she stirs the enormous pot of sauce that she has on the back burner. I knock on the door, and she pauses in her stirring and humming long enough to she that it’s us, then unbolts the deadbolt and opens the door to let us in, then rushes back to the stove long enough to pull the sauce off of the burner and turn of the stove, then wraps each one of us in enormous hugs, making sure to add to the ‘Italian Nonna’ image by giving each one of us a kiss on both cheeks. As a matter of principle, I wipe my cheeks dry and add a loud “Yuck!” even though I don’t really care.

I mean, come on, I’m a teenager, doesn’t being disgusted with any parental show of affection come with the territory? (Or at least pretending to be disgusted? Yes, yes it does.)

After I’m done with that, I take look around the house, making sure that there’s nothing I need to get done,. Usually Mama makes sure to leave a chore list of things that need to get done around the house out on the table for Alaina and I to take care of, but I don’t see any such thing this afternoon, so either she’s been too busy with everything, or there’s actually nothing for us to do. Me, I’m hoping and praying that it’s the second one, seeing how I’ve always felt chores to be the bane of my existence.

“Mama?” I ask, just to make sure that I’m not missing anything and that there are chores hiding in the closet on in the woodwork, waiting to spring out at us and ruin our perfectly planned evening (read: doing absolutely nothing save for play video games).

“Yes, dear? Do you need me for something?”

“Are there any chores you need me to get done before we eat supper? I noticed that you don’t seem to written up a list of anything for either Alaina or I, but you look awful busy and I thought that just maybe you would want a few extra hands, or as would be the case for either Alaina or I, a few extra paws?”

“Yes, actually, there are s few things that I’d like help with before we eat supper. As you might have picked up on, there just so happens to be an enormous pile of clothes on the table. I was working on the laundry when Mrs. Neve called, and I haven’t had the time nor the attention to spare to folding them. Would you mind taking care of them?”

“Not a problem, Mama, not a problem at all. By the way, where’s Papa?”

“Oh, you know him, always working on that car of his. He had it out earlier, and he said he wanted to take the darn thing for a spin, but then I heard him cursing. I went out to see what the issue was, and he told me that the engine had blown its head gasket. Don’t ask me what the heck he was talking about, I’m not the expert in motors, I’m the expert in the kitchen. He shouldn’t be too much longer, though, Theo, and while you’re setting the table, would you please explain to me just how in the blazes both of you got detention on your first day? I’ll have you know that I expect better behavior out of both of you in the future. Am I understood?” she asks, shaking a sauce-covered spoon at us.

“Yes, Mama, of course,” both of say in unison, then, “Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx!”

Both of us laugh, then go to set the table. As we clear away all of the clothes from the table, hastily throwing them into baskets to ignore until much later, everyone else- Mrs. Neve, Isaac, and Jenna- set to work on wiping down the table and getting the tablecloth set up on the table and tidied. After that’s done, we split the chore of actually setting the table. I grab the plates- we’re going to need...let’s see- me, Alaina, Jenna, Isaac, Mrs. Neve, Mama, and Papa. That makes seven, so that’s how many plates I pull out of the cupboard, using my elbow to shut the darn thing’s door behind me, and as if to spite me, the flocking thing swings open again as soon as I’ve stepped away from it.

Just ever so slightly frustrated, I set my stack of porcelain down onto the table as carefully as I can and flip right back around to shut the cupboard.

Not wanting to take any more chances, I fish a rubber band out of the pottery cup that’s on the counter right next to the toaster and stretch it around the cupboard doors’ handles.

There, I think, sitting down at the table just as Papa comes in from the garage, heavy hair-covered hands stained black with grease and motor oil.

“Hey, everyone,” he says, giving a have of his hand to the assembled company. “Sorry I’m late, but you know how I get wrapped up in my repair work, and I figure your mother’s already told you the whole story.”

Then he notices that there are more of us than he was expecting, and he gives his head a shake. “Am I seeing things here, or are there more mammals at the table then there usually are?”

Before I can confirm what he’s thinking, Mama speaks up. “Yes, dear, there are. Theo and Alaina invited a few friends over. They were having a rough day, so I was told, and I thought, well, what did my mama always do for me when I was having another one of those ‘down on my luck’ days? She cooked spaghetti and sauce, that’s what she did, and it sounded like you two were having a rough day, am I right?”

Both of us nod, and Mama nods back. “That’s what I thought when I got Mrs. Neve’s call. What did you two do to get yourselves into trouble, anyways? I’m not going to be mad, I promise, I’d just like to understand what went on today.”

“Oh,” both of us say, managing to say the exact same things at the exact same times for the third time today.

“Alaina, you go first,” I say, in no mood to go first.

“No, Theo, how about you go first.”

“But I don’t want to go first, sis, you go first.”

“Did you just call me ‘sis?’” she asks, smiling. “Aww, Theo, I didn’t know you had any feewings…,” she laughs.

“Yeah, I think I did just call you sis, sis, but umm….you might want to start explaining soon, ‘cause Mama doesn’t look too happy with us,” I say, tail flicking back and forth in nervous agitation behind my back.

“Fine,” she groans, “I’ll go first, but you are so going to owe me for this later. Don’t be surprised if I decide to whoop your tail.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t be. Now start explaining.”

“Okay,” Alaina says, turning to talk to Mama, who is back to stirring her enormous pot of sauce while also keeping her head turned towards us, “today was not a good day, and that’s probably a bit of an understatement. Today, I learned what it was like to be a flying wolf- not fun- and also what it feels like to have tomato sauce get in every fricking place on my body- yay! In short, it was a pretty scatty day, but if I’m being completey honest, getting detention today has been probably one of the brightest spots in my life, because I’ve now been introduced to three new friends- Mrs. Neve and her daughter and son, Jenna and Isaac.

“So, Mama, I’m sorry I got in trouble today, but at the same time, I’m not sorry one teeny tiny bit.”

“I see,” Mama says. “So what did you even do?”

“See, that’s the thing,” Alaina says, ears flattening, “you know how both of us were really, really nervous about going to human school?”

“Mm-hmm,” Mama says, nodding, “I do, but what about it?”

“See, here’s the thing,” Alaina says, huffing, “Human Culture class back on Terra? It wasn’t exactly all it was cracked up to be. In fact, I think that all it is is cracked, because apparently it’s not good manners on this side of the Bridge to bare your teeth at someone to warn them that they’re ticking you off, I guess. There was one jerk who was making me royally ticked off, and I just wanted to leave me alone, so I growled at him and showed him my teeth, told him to buzz off. It worked, he left me alone, but the next thing I know, there are school officials coming to haul me down to the office to ask me why I was threatening to eat some kid. I swear, I wasn’t trying to eat him, I was just trying to warn him that he was making me mad, and again, like I said, no one had ever bothered to tell me that that sort of thing isn’t acceptable around humans.”

“I see,” Mama says, and then sighs. “What about you, Theo? Same thing happen to you, if I had to guess?”

“Yeah,” I say, “pretty much. Like Alaina said, no one ever told us about that whole ‘don’t growl at humans’ deal, and for it, both of us have nine more days left of detention.”

“I see,” Mama says again, then waves a hand towards the table, then points to the sink. “Since supper is ready, everybody wash their hands (or their paws, depending), and grab a seat at the table, alright?”

“Sounds good to us,” Mrs, Neve says, then to Jenna and Isaac, she says, “Use your silverware, we’re eating with company. Besides that, it’s just polite.”

“Of course, Mom,” Jenna says, cheeks again lighting up in a blush. “That was only one time!”

“I know, but I still keep having to remind your brother about that, and I don’t think reminding either of you is ever going to hurt, now go wash your paws, both of you.”

They do as they’re told, and after they’re done, Alaina and I wash our paws, taking care to dry all of the water and soap out of our fur, then, after making sure the water is shut off all the way, take our spots at the table. Me, being the lefty, means that I have to sit on an outside corner, which can be a little annoying some of the time, but today, my annoyance is overshadowed by the fact that I have company, and although I got covered in the stuff earlier, I can’t help but want to chow down on the stuff right now, and the fact that I didn’t get to eat lunch earlier means that I haven’t eaten anything at all today, because I usually don’t eat breakfast, that’s nothing new for me, even before my journey over to this side of the bridge.

As soon as everyone’s set at the table, Mama asks us to all link hands (or paws) together to say our thanks- each person says what they are thankful for, and then only after everyone at the table has said something can everyone eat. It can get a little annoying at times, waiting for everyone to get done, but it is what it is, and there isn’t any point in complaining about it. We did the same thing back at home on Terra, and I learned not to complain about having to wait by being sent to bed without any supper.

“Theo, would you begin for us, please?” Papa asks me.

“Of course, Papa,” I say, trying to think of something that I’m thankful for. Thankfully, no pun intended, one comes to mind almost immediately. “I am thankful for,” I begin, “the company of new friends, and the opening of new opportunities.” After that, I ask, “Who would like to go next- left or right?”

“I’ll go, Theo,” Jenna, who’s seated directly to my right, says. “I’m also thankful for new friends. On top of that, I’m thankful to Alaina for being willing to mentor me, I really need it.”

“As am I,” Isaac adds. “I know we’re not there yet, but I’m looking forward to going to school with both of you, and I’d like you to know just how happy I am to hear that both of you are willing to take us on as mentees.” He sighs, then laughs. “Darn, aren’t I an awfully sentimental sap?”

“Yes, yes you are,” his sister adds, “but it’s true, and thank you all for having us for supper.”

“You’re very welcome,” Mama says. “I’m thankful my two are finding good uses for the trouble that they manage to get themselves into.” She winks, then adds, “and I’m glad that everyone managed to make it over for supper here tonight. I made a huge pot of sauce, and I’m glad that I’m going to have enough mouths to feed it to.” She smiles, then turns to Papa. “Martin, what are you thankful for?”

“The same as you, dear,” he says, taking a second to smile broadly at her. “Mrs. Neve, what are you thankful for?”

“Me? Well, I’d say that I’m thankful to everyone here for taking us in when we all really needed it.”

“And I,” Alaina says, “am happy to have found more people and more mammals like us.”

With that, we let go of each others’ hands, and the dinner table turns into an energetic mecca of conversations, each little group buzzing about something else. As for myself, I find that I’ve managed to get myself squarely into the middle of two of them, and I’ve found that I just can’t keep up with all of the directions that each conversation is taking, so by the time dinner is done and Mama brings out dessert (banana cream pie, my favorite), I feel like my head has been spinning around and around and around so much that I can’t quite seem to understand how it hasn’t managed to come unscrewed and gone flying across the polished pine floors.

Thankfully for me, though, the activity at the table manages to simmer down like a pot of Mama’s sauce on the stove by the time dessert has been cut and dished out to every person and mammal present, and it’s only Jenna who’s talking to me, Isaac having struck up a different conversation about the best Italian recipes for sweets.  
“Theo?” she asks, her voice soft and quiet, but thankfully still audible to a mammal with my hearing range.

“Yes, Jenna?” I ask. “Are you okay? Why are you speaking so quietly?”

“There are so many different people around, I just don’t know what to do…. I know that this is probably going to sound crazy, but I’ve never been around more than five people at a time, and seeing as how I’ve had a rather sheltered existence, well, all of this makes me rather nervous. I mean, I know it’s silly for me to be like that, seeing as how I’m going to be going to a public school tomorrow with over a hundred times what’s here, but I am, and I just don’t know how to feel about that…”

“What do you mean, Jenna?” I ask.

“What I mean, Theo, is that I have no real social skills whatsoever, and I just know I’m going to be flocking screwed tomorrow…”

“What do you mean by that, Jenna?” Mrs. Neve asks. “Honestly, dear, you’re going to be fine.”

“But what if I’m not?” she asks, tail drooping to the floor. “What if the humans hate me? What if they try to hurt me? I mean, based on what Theo and Alaina have told me, they’re not too nice there…”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Jenna,” Alaina says, and I nod.

“If the humans give you trouble, I would just say calm and shrug it off. If they call you names, I know it’s going to be hard, because it is for me as well, but you just have to ignore it and let it pass you by.”

“Like water off a duck’s back,” Jenna says, and Alaina and I look at each other in confusion.

“What does that mean?” I ask, having never heard that particular human idiom before, and surprised that they’ve heard it, because as far as I knew, they had barely been around people, and I was the one who had taken a lifetime’s worth of classes about human everything, but once again….

For the sake of the gods, this has been getting annoying, discovering just how flocking underprepared I well and truly anm for having come to Earth.

“What does it mean?” Jenna asks, giving voice to my thoughts. “And here I thought that my brother and I were the ones who knew absolutely nothing about human culture.” She laughs, then turns back to the meal at hand. Apparently she loves banana cream pie just as me, because the fur around her muzzle is flecked with butter-yellow splotches, and her whiskers have somehow managed to become covered in the same, which I can only assume is the filling from the pie.

“I see you like banana cream just as much as I do,” I say, smiling. “You seem to have a little bit of the filling in your fur…”

“I do?” she asks, reeling back in shock, though I don’t quite understand why. I mean, I was just trying to be polite and let her know, not surprise her.

“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay, I didn’t mean to worry you. All I was trying to say was that you seemed to really be enjoying dessert.”

“I am,” Jenna says, then takes another forkful of pie and eats it more slowly this time, taking care so as not to make more of a mess of her fur.

“Dang,” she says, smiling and wiping her muzzle and whiskers with a napkin, “that was good. Thank you for everything, Missus Maranza, thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome,” she says. “After everyone’s done, which it looks like the will be soon, would you mind helping me clear the table?”

“Of course, Mrs. M,” Jenna says. “Do you want any other sets of paws? There’s sure a lot to clear…”

“Am I Italian?” she asks, smiling.

“Umm…,” Jenna says, “I’m going to guess that that’s a yes?”

“You got it, and,” she says, putting one hand on her hip while the other points at each one of us in turn, “That means you guys too.”

“Of course, Mama,” I say, and Alaina nods yes as well.

Ten minutes later, everyone’s done at the table and Mama is washing the saucepot in the sink, every other dish either already in the dishwasher, ready to be cleaned, or drying in the dish drainer to the right of the sink.  
“Do you need any more help from any of us?” Mrs. Neve asks, drying her hands off on the flag-print towel that Mama told us that she bought in Italy on her vacation there a few years back.

“No, Bianca,” she says, using Mrs. Neve’s first name, which I didn’t know that she knew. “I’m good, but thank you so much for asking. “My husband seems to have set up the projector and screen outside, if you’d like to stay and watch something with us. I’m sure Theo and Alaina aren’t going to care. In fact, if you’d like to spend the night, you’re more than welcome to. It’ll make your lives easier, I’m willing to bet. Besides, I know that it’s only just about quarter after seven, but the movie that he’s setting up, if I’m remembering correctly from what he told me earlier, it’s going to last until quarter after ten. Please, feel free to stay the night, I don’t mind one bit, and no offense meant, but you guys look as if you’re awfully wiped.”

“We are,” Isaac says, piping up for the first time in ten minutes. He doesn’t look as it he’s tired at all, in fact, I think that he’s more awake than I am, tricky wolf. I can see the glint in his eyes, though, and I recognize that gleam- it’s the same kind that I get in my eyes when I’m excited about something, “so we should just stay here for the night. Right, Jenna?” he asks his sister, winking.

I can’t tell if Mrs. Neve notices the conspiratorial look that the two siblings share, but I’m going to guess that if she does, she’s an expert at not letting things show.

“Right,” Jenna says, and Mrs. Neve smiles.

“I see,” she says, and her wry smile confirms my earlier suspicion that she did, in fact, see the look that her kit and pup shared. “Alright, alright, okay, we’ll stay the night,” she says, smiling. “You guys win.” Then she turns to Mama. “What movie are you guys going to be playing on the big screen?”

“Why don’t you try and guess?” Mama tells her.

“Okay,” Mrs. Neve says, “but I’m just going to say this notw and get it out of the way- I’m not really a film buff. Yes, I’ve watched tons of them, but I’m not good at figuring out what kind of movie a woman whom I’ve just met would watch. No offense meant, of course, I just have no idea.”

“That’s fine,” Mama says, gesturing out towards the front lawn with another large sweep of her arm. “I bet my husband will have dragged out the popcorn popper as well. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be right out. You guys go enjoy, okay?”  
“Alright,” Mrs. Neve says, heading out the front door, the four of us- two foxes and two wolves- follow along. When we get out, I find that Papa has indeed dragged out the popcorn popper, and he’s managed to get all the things that we’re going to need set up and ready to go.

“Where’s Mama?” he asks, then apparently answers his own question, as he slaps his forehead. “Sorry, I know that answer. She’ll be ‘right out,’ and ‘it’s okay to start without her,’ right?”

“You got it, Papa,” I say. “So what movie are we going to watch?”

“I thought I’d pick out one of my personal favorites to watch tonight. Mrs. Neve, have you ever watched any Tom Hanks movies?”

“Can’t say that I have. And please, call me Bianca.”

“If you insist. In that case, I’m Matt, and tonight, it’s Forrest Gump.”

“Oooh!” Isaac says, wriggling a little in his chair. “One of the kids who lives down the block from us was talking about it to his group of friends yesterday.”

“Oh?” Jenna asks, attention piqued. “And just what did they say about it?”

“They said that it was probably one of the best movies that they had ever seen in their entire life, actually, so I’m kinda interested in seeing this ‘epic movie’ for myself.”

“Yeah,” Mama says, having come up unnoticed behind us, “it is a pretty good movie.”

“Geez, Mama,” Alaina says smoothing down her now ever-so-slightly ruffled fur, “don’t sneak up behind us like that, you startled me.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Alaina dear,” she says, taking her own seat, three to the right of mine. “Now let’s sit back and enjoy this movie, why don’t we?”

“Sounds good to me, dear,” Papa says, dishing out popcorn to each one of us, then takes his seat. “I haven’t watched this movie in so long…”

“I know,” Mama says, putting a finger to her lips in a be quiet now gesture that’s recognized in both universes. “Now sit back and enjoy the show.”

Nearly two and a half hours later, when the film’s end credits roll, the stars have come up all the way, the popcorn is all gone, but thankfully, there’s no crimp in my tail from the lack of movement.

Speaking of lack of movement, both Jenna and Isaac have fallen asleep in their chairs, and I can’t help but notice, with the way that they’ve managed to curl themselves up into little balls, tails held close to their noses like I’ve seen dogs and cats do here on Earth.

“Okay, who’s going to wake them up?” I ask.

“We’re not,” Mrs. Neve says. “This happens to us pretty often. These two tend to just crash if they stay up too late. Tonight wasn’t too bad, they’ve been up later, but I think that the excitement of today probably just plain wore them out.”

“I see,” I say. “So what are we going to do? We can’t just leave them out here, can we?”

“No, you’re right,” Mrs. Neve says. “We can’t just leave them out here, and so we’re not. Theo, would you mind picking Isaac up and carrying him inside? No offense to Jenna here, but her brother’s the lighter of the pair, and I think that that weight would be easier for you to carry. You look tired yourself, and as much as my kit and pup may be pains in the rear some days, I have no desire whatsoever to see them dropped on their tails.”

“I understand,” I say, kneeling down to where Isaac lies slumped in his seat, tail tucked between his arms. I untuck it and scoop my own arms beneath him, and then Mrs. Neve loops his arms around my neck as I stand up, then repeats the process for Alaina and Jenna.

“Where would you like me to put him?” I ask.

“How about we put him on the spare bed in your room for the night, and then Jenna can go on the spare bed in Alaina’s room.”

“Sounds fine to me,” Mrs. Neve says, “as long as neither of you minds…”

“No,” Alaina says, “I don’t mind, just as long as I get to put her down soon, she’s heavy…”

“I hear you,” Mrs. Neve says. “Mrs. Maranza, would you mind getting the door for us?”

“Not at all,” Mama says, rushing over to get the door, which she holds open long enough for us to get inside safely, then turns around to help Papa clean up. “You guys go on in,” she says through the screen. “Get those two to bed, and then get yourselves to the same.”

“Of course, Mama,” I say, smiling despite the strain I’m feeling in my arms. I carry Isaac to the spare bed in my room, which, like usual, is empty of anything but a sheet and pillow, and set him down, taking extra care to make sure that he’ll be okay until I get back.

Uncurling my arms from around him, I slip out of the room as quietly as possible and grab some blankets from the shelves in the closet down the hall.

As I get back, I set the sheets on my desk by the window that parallels the two beds, then lift Isaac off of the spare bed and place him on mine, then snag the sheets off of the desk and put them on, making sure to put some blankets and am extra pillow on as well, after all, what’s the point of having a bed (even if it has sheets) if you can’t have the fixings to turn it into a proper nest? I know that’s what foxes like me like to do, and I unfortunately don’t happen to know much about wolves’ preferences in regards to nests or not, but what I do know is that they’re pack mammals, much the opposite of any foxes I knew back on Terra, and so I can only assume that they like having someone to snuggle up next to.

Me, I’m not volunteering for that duty. Instead, I take the two extra blankets that I hadn’t put on the bed earlier and set them back down on my bed, heave Isaac up and over, and make the spare bed. After that’s done, I move to go swap Isaac over again, but my arms are just too tired, so I just shut my bedroom door, dive into bed and yank the covers down over my head.

Usually, I try to put myself to sleep by counting sheep, but tonight, I’m just so wiped out that I’m asleep not ten seconds after my head hits the pillow.


	3. Chapter Three: WTF? (What The Flock?)

Chapter 3: WTF? (What The Flock?)

The soft sunlight streaming in through the window wakes me up, and as I do, I realize that the smell of bacon is drifting from the kitchen, and also that the bed next to me is empty and that the door has been left open.

Oh, well, at least it'll save me the trouble of having to open it.

As I wander out of the door into the hallway and being to make my way towards the kitchen, I have barely enough time to wipe the sleep out of my eyes before a silver blur catches my attention. Before I have time to react, though, Alaina plows straight into me, wrapping me in a hug.

That much isn't really a surprise to me- in my experiences around her (I've known her for a decade of Terran time, and we've been friends for about nine and a half of those years), and believe me, she's always been like this around me.

What does surprise me, though, is when she decides to give my cheek a lick. I jump back, surprised, but I can't stay mad at her when I see the light in her eyes and the smile on her muzzle.

"What, Theo?" she asks, giggling like a pup. "Did I get your attention? I sure hope you did, brother mine."

I laugh and pat her shoulder. "What do you think, sis? Yeah, you got my attention, now come on, I smell bacon."

She laughs, tail wagging softly behind her. "I'm the wolf here, aren't I supposed to be the one who has the stereotypically bottomless stomach?"

"Whatever….," I say, laughing. "Come on, let's go eat something. I think Isaac's already awake, 'cause he wasn't in my room when I woke up this morning. Was Jenna still asleep?"

"Yeah, she was," Alaina says. "Honestly, though, that doesn't surprise me, seeing as how she passed right out by the fire. I don't really think that she's quite as able to fight her eyes open and keep the open as she thinks she is. What do you think about that?"

"I absolutely agree, and I'd say the same thing about her brother. Now, come on, I'm getting hungry."

We walk into the kitchen, tails twitching behind both of our backs.

"Oh, I see you're both awake," Papa says. "Isaac's already up, and so is Mrs. Neve," he says, giving another huge sweep of the arm to the kitchen table, where both aforementioned people- human and wolf- are sitting, enjoying two hot plates of steaming pancakes and bacon.

"Hey, Papa," Alaina says, giving everyone a wave. "Is there any extra for us?"

"What do you think?" Papa asks, picking up the two bowls that he has sitting beside the stove and tilting them towards us, where we can see that they're full of pancake batter. "I know how you two can eat enough pancakes for all of us, and I saw how how our two animal guests like to eat," he says, giving Isaac a wry smile.

"Speaking of animals," he continues, "where's Jenna? Have you guys seen her yet?"

"Here I am," a voice says from behind us, and Alaina and I turn around to see her walking towards us, wiping the sleep from her eyes. "I just fell asleep there last night," she says, ears drooping ever so slightly. "I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to. I mean, I just closed my eyes for a second there, and then I woke up in bed hugging my tail…"

"Yeah," Alaina says, "you were pretty out of it last night. I brought you in, you're welcome, but don't worry about that now. Come on, join us for breakfast. Besides, we're going to have to get ready for school soon anyways, and I can see that you guys are a little hungry."

"How'd you guess that?" Jenna asks, one ear perked and the other bent over in confusion.

"I read up on animal behaviors when the school told us that our district would be hosting animan exchange students. They asked for volunteers families to host them, and we take up the torch. I wanted to know a little bit about what we were going to be getting ourselves into, and one thing that I noticed was that canines' and lupines' noses tend to twitch at things if they're hungry. That, and, well, you didn't eat that much last night. That was mostly your brother, so I can only say that it was a good guess."

"You're right," Jenna says, pointing to her stomach just as it lets out a loud growl. "I am hungry, so what's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes and bacon?" she asks, ears perking up again hopefully. "It sure smelled like it was pancakes and bacon, and boy am I hungry!"

"I can see that," Papa says. "How many pancakes would you like?"

"How about five? That sounds good to me."

"Five it is then. Any bacon?"

"You know it!" Jenna says. "I'm starving!"

"I can see that," Mrs Neve says. "But sit down and wait, Jenna. How many times have I told you this?"

"Too many," she says, and we all laugh. Mrs. Neve, however, doesn't seem pleased.

Twenty minutes later, breakfast is all cleaned up, everyone's teeth are brushed, bags are packed, and we're ready to go.

"Have a great day, everyone, and Theo? Alaina?" she says, calling after us.

"Yes, Mama?" we ask (at the same time, which, for whatever reason, just happens to be the way we manage it.

"Enjoy your detention after school, okay?" she asks, winking.

"Of course, Mama!" I say, smiling.

"You know we're going to," Alaina says. "I don't know whether or not Mrs. Neve is going to drive us back over afterwards, but if she does, they're more than welcome to stay for supper."

"Alright, Mama," I say, giving her a wave as I step out the door. "I'll be sure to let them know."

"Thank you, dear," Mama calls back. "Have a nice day. Now get out there, the bus is at the stop just down the road, I can see its red flashers."

"Okay," I say, then step out to the road to join the rest of the bunch, backpack slung over one shoulder, and crap! I just realized that I forgot to pack myself a lunch, but oh well, I don't have time to go get one, the bus is pulling up to ours stop, and I don't want to miss it, that would just make my reputation worse.

Put simply, I really, really, really do not need the teachers and administration of Bartman High School to think that I'm even more trouble. I saw the looks in their eyes yesterday afternoon as I passed them by in the hallways on my way to detention, and all I saw was look after look after look of distrust- that stereotype of foxes that seems to pervade every nook and cranny of human culture, and I can't, for the life of me, seem to understand why I can't shake them.

Well, I think, this is not the time to be worrying about that, man. You have to get on the bus or we're going to be even later, seeing as how the darn thing is already behind. Well, not that I'm complaining that it's behind, because that delay gave me just enough time to get on.

"Hey, buddy, are you going to get on or not?" comes the voice of the bus driver, and I realize that I've managed to lose myself in thought.

Snapping myself out of my stupor, I answer him. "Oh, sorry, sir, yes, sir, I am getting on this morning."

"Well, then, get on," he says thumbing his hand towards the back of the bus. I follow his directions and take the first free seat, which just so happens to be right next to Isaac, who got on before me, so it seems. I guess I was the last one on…

"Hey, Theo," Isaac says, grinning broadly, my Papa's drawstring bag in one paw and his lunch in the other. Guess he's certainly prepared, while me? Yeah, no.

"Hey, man," I say, offering him a high paw, which he takes, giving mine a hard slap. "Ow, that was a little too hard," I say, feeling the sting ring through my paw, "I think you don't know your own strength there, Isaac."

"Oh, I do, but I thought I was being gentle…"

"Then you're either stronger than you think, or I've just gone soft," I say, and we both laugh. "So," I say, trying to get Isaac's attention, which I do. "Are you looking forward to your first day of public school?"

"You want my honest answer?" he asks, and I nod. Of course I want his honest answer. "Well," he says, sighing. "I'm not really sure what I'm feeling right about now. Last night, I was so pumped about the idea, but now, well….now, I'm not so sure what I'm feeling, Theo. On one paw, I'm really, really excited for the new opportunity, but on the other paw, I'm abso-flocking-lutely terrified, you know?"

"I do," I say, smiling broadly and hoping that Isaac won't be startled by my teeth.

Thankfully, he doesn't seem to be fazed one bit. Instead, he smiles back at me, his grin just as broad as mine if not even wider. "What was the worst part about it? I mean, I know that this is only your second day, but would you mind sharing just a few of the things you've managed to pick up over the course of yesterday?"

"Sure," I say. "First- humans don't have tails like we do, so they're never watching for them, and the phones that they're always staring into don't help anything, so make sure that you keep yours lifted up a little. Not so much that you're showing off your backside. I've heard of some humans who like to see that sort of stuff, but that's just weird, don't do that. Instead, keep it about the height of your mid-thighs, I would say."

"Okay," Isaac says, "that's good to know, but what else?"

"Well, for starters, it's not exactly acceptable to bare your teeth at someone, even if they've royally ticked you off, I managed to learn that the hard way."

"Eek," Isaac says. "What did you do?"

"Well," I say, "as I said, I learned the hard way that you can't growl at a human to warn them to buzz off, no matter how much the human is bothering you. Of course, my having been a fox hasn't helped my case in the slightest. I don't know if you've found this out yet or not, but here on Earth, foxes are thought of as the spawn of the devil, or whatever personification (or mammalification) you can think of to describe us, you know?"

"No, unfortunately, Theo," he says, "and besides, I'm a wolf."

"It still applies," I say, sighing, rubbing one paw down my snout to try and fight the headache that I can feel brimming inside. "No matter how intelligent you are, on this planet, Isaac, all the humans ever see are the sharp teeth and tails. To them, we're no more than animals."

"But we are just animals," he says, giving me a look that makes me wonder just how it's possible to have been so isolated.

Shaking away the frustration I feel rising in my stomach, I swallow it down and face Isaac with a straight face. "Here on Earth, Isaac, all of the animals, save for the four of us, aren't sentient, not like the humans. Here on Earth, all of the animals are rather dimwitted and unevolved, and all of the humans are so used to thinking of themselves as superior to the animals. I bet you didn't bother to think about the fact that any meat you eat comes from animals, did you? I don't mean any offense, Isaac, all that I'm trying to say here is that humans aren't sure how to treat us. They can see that we're capable of just as much as a human, and yet they're not really able to see past the fur and teeth and tail and claws, because that to them means that we're animals."

I sigh again, and force a smile onto my face. "Oh, would you look at that, we're at school. Before we get off, man, just try to remember one thing else- keep your tail up off of the floor, and I'll see you inside. Meet me at my locker in five, okay?"

"Before we get off, Theo, just which locker is yours?"

"The one on the second floor right across from the Global History classroom- number two-forty-four, just in case you can't find the classroom."

With that, we get off of the bus and head inside. Making sure to follow my own advice, I keep my tail held up just a little bit higher than I would usually, then make sure to head up to my locker as quickly as my feetpaws will allow me to, and thankfully, I don't get pulled over by anyone. Today, at least, is certainly starting out a whole heck of a lot better than yesterday, where I was greeted by hordes of angry humans who spat in my fur and, well, made my morning a living hell. I just have to hope that Isaac's first day (of any public school whatsoever) doesn't turn out as badly as mine did.

Thankfully, after having already been exposed to the spectacle that is walking, talking, human-like animals, my fellow schoolmates don't pay as much attention to Isaac, why comes up to me with a look on his face that seems one more of pure, undiluted terror than the joy that his name suggests.

"What's wrong, Isaac?" I ask him. "You have to relax, man, you look as if you're absolutely terrified…"

"Well, Theo," he says, tail swishing wildly behind him, "you've got that right. I have no idea what I'm doing, and all the new smells aren't helping me one bit. I'm fighting to keep my nose from twitching like you told us to do, but this whole thing is just overwhelming me…"

"I can appreciate that, Isaac, I really can. I got myself into the same boat yesterday, and it's not an easy battle to win, I understand where you're coming from completely."

"Then what should I do, Theo?" he asks me, the look in his eyes somewhat manic. "What should I do?"

"Here's what I recommend," I say, pointing at his backpack. "You have your schedule in there?"

"No," he says, "no, I don't have my schedule in there."

"Then where is it?" I ask. "You didn't leave it behind, did you?"

"Geez, Theo," Isaac says, grinning. "You're like my grandmama, always nagging at me to do this, do that. Usually, it drives me up the wall (which is a human saying for crazy, I can see that you didn't know), but right now? With a friend? No, I don't mind, and yes, I have my schedule, it's right here," he says, snagging a slightly crumpled piece of plain white paper out of his back pocket and pulling it out and unfolding it for us to see.

"Hey, you know what?" I say, smiling. "You have the same schedule as me."

"What?" Isaac says, grinning. "You're kidding. You've got to be kidding!"

"I take it that that's a good thing, then?" I ask, and he nods, smiling himself.

"It's great, Theo, absolutely perfect. Now where's our first class?"

"Right down the hall- AP English with Mrs. MacDugal."

"Ummm….," Isaac says, worrying his lip. "I dunno about that…."

"Come on," I say, leading him by the paw. "You'll be fine, I promise."

We both hurry in just as the bell is ringing from up on high like it does, and snag two seats next to each other right as Mrs. M is hoisting an enormous stack of heavy yellow-backed books from her desk. "I'll be passing these around to everyone, and you all know the drill- name on the first open line in the box on the inside cover. After that, I'll be passing out our first novel- ooh, fun, right?" she asks, pumping her arms in kit-like enthusiasm.

"Right?" she asks, nobody having answered her earlier.

"Right," we groan, save for me, myself and I, because, to be completely honest, I love reading, and the more English I can pick up, the better. I'm already fluent, but it never hurts to learn more of a language.

I pick up the slim blue-backed volume as soon as it hits my desk and take a look at its cover, which reads The Great Gatsby, and beneath that, what I assume to be the author's name: F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Hmm, looks like this could be interesting, I think, but then then Mrs. MacDugal comes around with another stack, this time made of stapled pairs of golden-yellow paper.

"You didn't think that you were just going to have to read this, now did you?" she asks, but based on the groans I can hear coming from my fellow classmates, it seems as though that's exactly what they thought was going to happen, and Mrs. M. laughs, not a harsh laugh, but instead one that seems amused.

"Come on, people- humans and mammals alike- this is Advanced Placement English, we actually do things in this class, instead of like in Mr. Dobachevski's English 101. But before we get started," she says, "I see that there are a few new faces in here that I don't recognize. She points to Jenna, who seems to have either magically appeared in the room, or the more likely explanation, which is that I just plain didn't notice her earlier.

"What's your name, miss?" she asks, pen in her hand poised over her attendance sheets, ready to write.

"Jenna Neve, ma'am," she says, and Mrs. M. smiles.

"Welcome to our school, Ms. Neve," she says, and then turns to Isaac. "And you?"

"Isaac Neve, ma'am," he says. "I'm Jenna's brother, we're both new, but I figure you can tell that."

"That I can. It's nice to have you both with us today. I'm going to assume that neither of you have read The Great Gatsby?" Mrs. M. asks.

"No, ma'am," Jenna says, tail flicking behind her with an emotion that I can't read, which surprises me.

"Good, well, then you're in for a surprise. Isaac," she asks, "I'm going to guess that the case is the same for you? You've never read the book we're going to start in class today?"

"No, ma'am," he says, echoing his sister. "I have not."

"Well, then, you're in for a surprise as well." Turning back to her pad, and then to the computer that's on the desk that she's standing in front of, she pushes a few buttons, then turns back to us. "Sorry about that," she says apologetically, "but I forgot to take attendance."

"Like usual," comes a voice from the back, and I turn around to see that it's the same meathead who turned me into a flying fox yesterday. Well, scat. I just had to have a class with that guy, of all the people and mammals in this building? Well, then, I'm really just going to have to hope that he doesn't notice me, because I'm in absolutely no flocking mood to be turned into a projectile for the second day in a row.

"Now, Tony," Mrs. M. says, "what have I said about that in the past?"

Surprising me, and apparently most of the rest of our classmates, Tony, or whatever his name is, quiets down. "You said not to talk about you like that," he says, ducking his head in what seems like true remorse, but I can see the grin on his face from where he has it hidden behind his arms, and I know that he's a lying sap of a birch, but I'm going to let it drop, because in my last day's worth of experience with the administration of this school, they're not going to side with me, because I'm the outsider.

No, this school is going to put me at fault in any complaint that I bring against a member of the student populace, and honestly, although it ticks me off, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Breaking my attention out of my thoughts, I turn back to the lesson that Mrs. MacDugal is just starting to get into, and prepare myself to be bored out of my mind.

Just under an hour later, the boredom that I never thought would come to an bell rings, and my classmates and I slowly drift out into the hallway, and I walk over to my locker, knowing that neither Isaac nor Jenna will know where to go.

Jenna comes up to me, placing a paw on my shoulder. "Theo, where's Mr. Smith's room? Isaac and I have Earth History second period, and we need helping finding his room…"

"Well, you're in luck then," I say, pointing at the room right across the hall from Mrs. MacDugal's. "It's right there. Do you have the same schedule as your brother, Jenna?"

"Yes, in fact," she says, "I do. Why?"

"Because," I say, "that means you're in luck, because you two both have the same schedule as Alaina and I, so that means you two can follow us around for the day. How's that sound?"

"It sounds great to me," Isaac says, his eyes lighting up and tail beginning to wag before he slaps it down in embarrassment. "Why won't you stay still, traitorous tail?" he says. "I'm flustered enough as it is, and I don't need you giving me away…"

"Oh, leave it, Isaac," Alaina says, grinning. "We're not going to judge, we promise."

"But what if someone else does?" he asks, a worried expression creasing his muzzle.

"Then we'll sock it to them, and that's a promise. I don't care if gets me in trouble, if someone dares pick on either of you, I'm going after them, I swear. That's a promise, and I'm a who never goes back on her promises. Now, come on, the bell's about to ring, and I don't suppose that it's going to make any good impressions if we're late, eh?"

"Sounds about right to me," Jenna says, tapping her foot, tail flicking impatiently behind her. "So let's go!"

With that, we step in from the hallway and find ourselves seats at a bank of desks right in the front center of the room.

As we do, Mr. Smith, whose gray hair seems in stark contrast to the youthful twinkle in his eyes, begins to mark down names on a pad that I can only guess is his attendance logbook, stopping when his eyes settle on Jenna and Isaac.

"And who might you two be?" he asks, smiling. "It's nice to see new faces, but it's also nice to be able to faces to those names."

"I'm Jenna Neve, sir," Jenna says, holding a paw to her chest, "and this," she says, pointing to Isaac, "is my brother, Isaac. And who are you?"

"You can call me Mister Smith," he says, "and welcome to Earth History 201. It's nice to have you, are you on exchange as well?"

"No, sir," Isaac says, "we're not. Mrs. Neve is our mom, she adopted us from Terra when we were kits."

"Ah, I see," Mr. Smith says. "And have you been to school before? I'm trying to judge what I'm going to have to teach, you see."

"I understand, sir," Jenna says. "We were homeschooled up until this point but we wanted a change."

"I see," Mister Smith says, scratching his beard, which, like his hair, is a white that's bordering on silver. "So have you learned much of Earth's history?"

"Not much, sir, but we know the basics," Jenna says, ears twitching in slight discomfort. "What have we missed?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all, actually. We didn't do much yesterday. All I did was pass out the textbooks and discuss the class outline, both of which," he says handing a copy of each item to Jenna and to Isaac, "I have right here."

"Thank you, sir," Isaac says.

"You're more than welcome, young sir, and welcome to school here on Earth. Don't worry, I'm not going to bite. Besides, we're just getting started for the year, and so, as I said, you haven't missed anything. Just don't forget to put your names on the first open line on the inside of the cover, and we'll get started."

About ten minutes later, after talking about the formation of Earth and the parallel universes, Mr. Smith breaks us up into seven groups of three, which means that Isaac gets paired off with two other kids (of the human kind) whom I don't recognize. I wish we could all just work together, but as the human idiom goes, life isn't fair. If it was, I would still have my father and the rest of my family, and Alaina would still have her brother.

But that's a topic for a different day. Right now, we're going to be talking about the First Interuniversal War, which took place six thousand years ago. I remember learning about it back on Terra, but it'll be interesting to see what Earth's side of the matter is. All I really know about it is that it took place a long, long, long time before I came around, and I don't quite see what the point is of talking about it here on Earth, but whatever. If Mister Smith wants this to be the topic of conversation for today's class, then who am I to argue with that?

Absolutely no mammal, that's for absolutely certain. Instead, I take a look at the paper he gave us to look at, and start to skim the paragraph headings. It's mostly stuff I already know, junk about how the parallel universes came to be, one for the animals to reign over and another for the apes that would eventually evolve to become the humans that surround me today, but amongst the text, there is a line that catches my eye: "Human-mammal tensions have been brought to significant highs over the last several weeks due to disagreements over how best to keep the Bridge between the two Universes free for the use of all. Humans argue that there should be a toll between the two sides in order to boost Earth's slumping economy. Mammals protest such a toll, saying that the gateway has always been open for the usage of whoever wishes to use it. United Nations Security Council Chair Miguel Martinez said that…

At that point, I stop reading. I don't want to think about the possibility of that yet, and besides, tensions between the two Universes has always been somewhat high, but I've never heard of it coming to anything more than the occasional 'fleabags' comment directed towards us Terrans and maybe a few tariff hikes, but nothing more than that.

"Okay, class," Mister Smith says, coming around the desks to collect the articles, which he stacks in a messy pile on his desk. "What do you all think of that? It's certainly quite the interesting article, isn't it?"

"It certainly is, Mister Smith," a male voice says from the back.

"Oh?" Mister Smith asks. "How so? Can you back up your claim?"

"I can," the boy who spoke up says. "I have no issue with Terrans myself. Personally, I would embrace the opportunity to have open borders between our two sides, and I can't quite seem to wrap around my head why the UN would insist on imposing sanctions between the two sides, especially because Earth's economy is in no way 'slumping.' My father is a stockbroker in the Global Exchange, and he tells me that in fact, it's never been doing any better. Perhaps it has to do with the insistence of UN ambassador to Terra's to pursue an "Earth First" trade policy, but really, I don't know. I just know that I think that the whole idea of a 'trade war,' or even worse, a war in general is ridiculous."

"That's certainly an interesting and insightful perspective to take, Mister Baltran, a rather interesting perspective indeed." Turning to the rest of the class, he asks, "Is there anyone else who would like to contribute something to this discussion? It could be quite the issue…"

"I do," I say, raising my paw like I'm supposed to, and Mister Smith calls on me.

"Yes, Mister Aspen?" he says. "I take it that you'd like to add something?"

"I would," I say. "Being from Terra myself, I can't understand why our two sides are calling for such a response. Haven't they learned anything from the two Interuniversal Wars? This sort of scat- pardon my language- never turns into anything but the deaths of billions of humans and mammals, and what has it accomplished?"

"I'll tell you what it's accomplished," says the boy whom Mister Smith addressed as Mister Baltran, "It's taught Terrans that human military force can never be reckoned with. I don't even know why they're trying to beat us. Haven't they learned anything?"

"I guess not," Alaina says, "but not all Terrans want war. I know that I sure as flock don't, and I'm willing to bet that Theo doesn't want to see such a thing either, do you, Theo?"

"Come on, Alaina," I say. "Do you even need to ask me that question? You know I don't, I'm a lover, not a fighter."

"Which brings us to our next point," Mister Smith interjects before the debate can get any more heated. "War never turns out well for either side, and yet no one seems to ever learn, not even-," he says before the kid from earlier can say anything, "not even us humans. We never learn, either, so don't just go around pointing fingers and blame at people just because they're different that you, Jules. Would you like it if someone were to do the same sort of thing to you? Blame you for something that you didn't do? How would that make you feel?"

Taken aback for a second, the boy looks puzzled, and if I'm using all of my senses, he smells somewhat scared, like prey that has just realized that it's made an egregious mistake yet can find no way out- in other words, he seems abso-flocking-lutely terrified, and I wonder why.

I don't have to think about what the answer to that question would be for much longer, though, because he begins to speak.

"Honestly, I don't know, Mister Smith, because no person, or mammal, has ever tried that on me, but if I really think about it, I think that it would make me feel like a piece of shit."

"Language, Mister Baltran, but I suspect that you're right. So what does that say to you?"

"That I need to stop acting like an ass?" Catching the look Mister Smith gives him, he says, "Yeah, I know what you said about language, but it doesn't change the fact that it's true."

Waxing unprofessional, Mister Smith says "Hmm, I know. But why the sudden one-eighty in your perspective?"

"Perhaps because I've actually thought about the issue now, instead of just blowing it off."

Yeah, right, I think, but I know that it's not my place to say anything, so I keep my muzzle shut. Instead, Mister Smith voices my thoughts. "I've known you too long, so what are you after?"

Looking abashed, he says "Absolutely nothing. I promise."

"Hmm…. he says. I'm not quite sure that I believe you, Mister Baltran, but I've learned over the years that it's going to get me absolutely nowhere that I want to be by arguing with you."

With that, Mister Smith turns around back to his precious lesson, and as soon as he does, I see him take something off of the side of the desk from where it was hidden, and before any one of us four can react, he flicks it at Alaina, where it (which seems to be gum) sticks in the tousled tuft of fur that sticks up between her ears, and of course, Mister Smith doesn't notice. (Even if he had noticed, I don't think that he would give a flying flock.)

Of course, the rest of the class notices, and save for us mammals, they all begin to laugh, as if they've just heard the funniest joke of their lives. Alaina, meanwhile, is blushing brightly in shame and embarrassment.

Eventually, Mister Smith seems to notice the commotion that's starting to boil over and turns around, and when he does, the apple that Jules had thrown not three seconds earlier sails towards him and beans him in the nose.

"Ow!" he says, holding his face. "Who threw that? It had better not have been you, Jules…"

"No, sir," Jules says, lying through his teeth, "it wasn't me, it was Alaina. I told you you could never trust animals. She threw it, scout's honor," he says, holding up his right hand in a sign that looks like the Ranger Scouts' salute from back on Terra.

"What?" Alaina asks, tail puffing up out behind her. "It wasn't me, I swear, it was him! Look," she says, pointing to the patch of fur on the top of her head where Jules's thrown piece of gum has managed to stick itself. "See what he threw in my hair? I swear, it wasn't me!"

"Hmm….," he says, scratching the rough stubble on his chin that seems to have grown longer even during this class. "I don't know who do believe here…"

"I'm innocent!" Jules says, and then Alaina starts shouting in protest.

Three minutes later, after trying to (unsuccessfully) stop the situation from escalating, we're all sitting in the principal's office, and he doesn't seem to happy with any of us.

"Well," he says, "I don't know why I'm not surprised to see you three here. What did you two do?" he asks, the veins on the top of his head bulging. "And don't try to tell me that you didn't do anything, I won't believe it for a second. After all, this is the third time in here for both of you in just two days. I know I've said it before, but I expect better behavior out of both of you, and if neither of you can show me that mammals are capable of interacting civilly with humans, then I will not hesitate to have you back on the first spaceship to Terra. Am I understood?"

Alaina starts to protest, but I interrupt her. "Yes, sir, you are," I say. "Completely, and you won't have to see us in here again."

"Good," he says, smiling, "I'm glad to hear it. Now get out and get back to class."

"Yes, sir," Alaina and I say in unison, and she takes me angrily by the arm and drags me out into the hallway, and the jackarse who's really responsible, the one who should be in trouble but instead got off without any trouble wanders off, presumably heading back to Mr. Smith's room, where he can cause even more trouble, and I'm willing to bet that Mr. Smith will blame the victim again.

That's the one thing that's the worst about schools on Earth. Back on Terra, there was a device that could detect whether or not some mammal was lying, and it worked by reading their thoughts.

I haven't seen such a thing here on Earth, and all these times that I've gotten in trouble for doing something that I didn't do, all of the times that I was called out as the perpetrator, and the real bully got away without so much as a slap on the wrist, I can't help but wonder whether or not such a device would solve my problems.

I don't know that answer, but what I do know is the we're probably going to get shoved into several weeks' worth, if not months' worth of detention, and that Alaina's going to need to get that flocking piece of purple gum out of her fur.

I don't know where one can usually find scissors here on Earth, but since we're passing by the nurse's office, I don't suppose that it can hurt to stop in and ask them if they'd be willing to help, and I tell that to Alaina.

"You're probably right, Theo," she says, ears drooping and tail dragging on the cold tile beneath us.

"Well, then," I say, beckoning her to follow me, "why don't we find out? The worst they can say is no, right?"

"Right, Theo," she says, and follows me as we step into the nurse's office, where a thin young human sits at a desk, scratching down what I can only assume to be notes on a pad of cardinal-red paper.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I say, going up to the desk and placing my front paws on the lip of the counter, "do you think you could help us?"

"Of course," the young woman says, looking up from her pad and setting her pen down on the top of the desk. When her brain registers that we're not humans, though, her hand goes to her mouth in shock.

As quickly as in went there, though, the hand that had covered her mouth slowly lowers back down to the desk's top, where it rests, and she raises her other hand in a gesture of apology.

"I'm sorry for my reaction there," she says. "I'm Nurse Beckett. How can I help you find young mammals today?"

"I'm Theo Aspen," I say, offering my paw for her to shake, which she does, and then point to Alaina. "And this is my friend and fellow Voyager, Alaina."

"Nice to meet you both," Nurse Beckett says, taking Aliana's proffered paw. "Do you need my help with anything?"

"Yes, actually, I do need help with something," Alaina says, pointing one finger to the wad of gum in her fur. "I kinda want to get this out of here. It's not exactly comfortable, you see."

"I can imagine. Who did that do you? I'm going to guess that it was the principal and superintendent's good pal…," she says, sarcasm and snark dripping off the end of her voice. "It was him- Baltran, I'm more than willing to bet, the asshole that he is."

"How'd you know?" Alaina asks, head tilted in confusion.

"You're not the first person to come in here with gum in their hair, or in your case, their fur. And also let me guess," she says, putting one hand on her hip while the other roots around in her desk drawer for a pair of scissors, "he pretended that it was your fault and that he was just the world's most darling angel. That sound about right?"

"Yeah, that's exactly it," Alaina says, snarling in disgust. "He pretended that he was completely free of any blame and that we were the ones culpable. Or, if I'm going to be more specific, he told our teacher, Mister Smith, that I was the mammal who had done it," she says, teeth set in a growl that looks almost deadly.

"I see," Nurse Beckett says, snipping the gum out of Alaina's gray fur. "What an asshole, if you'll pardon my language."

"Of course, I will," Alaina says, "because that's exactly how I would describe him myself if I hadn't already been blacklisted and written down on the administration's scat list, if you get what I mean."

"I understand exactly what you mean. He's been this much of an asshole, don't excuse my language, ever since I've known him, and ever since he fell in with the rowdiest bunch in the building early on last year, his antics and tomfuckery has only gotten worse."

"Do you always curse like this?" I ask, feeling tears come to my eyes as I start to laugh, only slightly at first, then building to a crescendo within about ten seconds that leaves Nurse Beckett looking at me as if I'm crazy.

If I was in her shoes, I'd probably think the same thing if I had heard someone laugh like I just did.

"Are you alright there, Mister Aspen?" she asks, giving me a curious stare that I think means that she now thinks that I'm ever-so-slightly off my rocker.

"Yes, I'm fine," I say. "Why?"

"Why? Because, Mister Aspen," she continues, "I wasn't quite sure whether or not you were okay or if you were having some kind of fit."

"No, I'm alright," I say, taking deep breaths to calm myself back down, "I don't quite know why I found that particular expression so funny, but I did. Don't worry, I haven't lost it, it's just been an interesting morning is all."

"I see," Nurse Beckett says, beginning to smile herself, "I'm not worrying."

"I'm glad to hear that," I say, "because the very last thing I need right about now is to have some person think that I've lost it. The administration already has it out for me, and I don't need anyone else to be."

"I can appreciate that, Mister Aspen," Nurse Beckett says. "So what happened in class today to bring you two down here to see me?"

"Well," I say, grimacing, "as you can tell, we're not exactly humans," I say, pointing at Alaina first, then to myself. "And for whatever reason," I continue, feeling my tail start to swish in agitation behind me, "the humans here can't seem to get it through their heads that we're not used to doing things like they do. I mean, come on, we're from an entirely different planet, and they expect us to be just like them? Um, thanks, but no.

"There's also the added problem that neither Alaina nor I really managed to learn much about human culture before we came here."

"Yeah," Alaina says, brushing at the now slightly misshapen puff of fur on her head until she manages to get it flattened out, "that class was flocking useless."

"You're not kidding," I say, "I have no clue why we're even in there, except maybe as a Karmic lesson on patience? I really don't know, but whatever the case is, I don't want to deal with that scat for any more time today." Pausing for a second, she turns towards me and asks, "Do you think you could have?"

"Um, no," I say. "What makes you think that?"

"Absolutely flocking nothing, Theo," Alaina says, drumming her fingers along the hard top of Nurse Beckett's desk, tail beginning to flick rapidly. "I think I need to get the hell out of this building before it drives me nuts. What about you?"

"Same, but what can we do about that exactly, Alaina? It's not like we can just walk out of the building and not come back until whenever we wanted. We're already in hot water with school administration, so what can we do about it?" I ask, not caring that my lips have started to slip up past my teeth or that my claws are digging holes in the top of the desk. I hope I don't get into trouble for 'destruction of school property' or some scat like that that I really don't want to put up with you know?"

"I understand entirely," Nurse Beckett says, interjecting into our heated conversation.

"You do?" I say, with more venom behind my words than I had intended, because if I'be being completely honest, I don't have any issues with this woman. "I didn't think that anyone cared to listen. After all, here on Earth, the resident humans don't seem to understand that we aren't idiots, and everything we do, well," she scoffs, "we can't seem to do right."

"Oh? I'd like to hear more, if you'd be willing to explain," Nurse Beckett says, tapping a slim silver-barrelled pen on the top of the desk. "You have my attention, but shouldn't you two be in class?"

"See," I say, "that's exactly it, and that's why we're down here, weren't you listening?"

"I was," she says, "but I woke up much too early this morning, and I think I zoned out there a little on you, I'm sorry."

"It happens to the best of us, Nurse Beckett," Alaina says, extending a reassuring paw across the desk, which Nurse Beckett takes. "I think that both of us have been having rough mornings ourselves."

"I noticed," she says, laughing. "So what's going on? I can't help what I can't understand."

"Well, then I don't know if you're going to be able to help us," I say, smiling with emotions that I can't quite seem to wrap my mind around. "No one can, because they're all to flocking busy passing us of as freaks and then either one: ignoring us completely and pretending we don't exist, or two: turning us into furry projectiles and sending us flying across lunchroom tables. What are you going to do?"

"Whoa, calm down, Theo," Alaina says, putting a paw on my shoulder, which I suppose is meant to reassure me, and thankfully, as I feel the soft touch of her cool paw pad on my shoulder, I realize that I've been acting like an ass, and I have no idea why. For some reason, my brain has been random recently, and find myself going of on tangents that have no relevance whatsoever to the topic at hand, and I feel so worked up about something, yet I have not a single flocking clue why.

Maybe Nurse Beckett will be able to help, and if not, at least Alaina doesn't have that stinking wad of gum in her fur anymore.

"Well," I say, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, because, if the seemingly antique clock on the wall above our heads is right, the period is almost over, and then it's on to good ol' A and P. I hope that we manage to talk about a more decent topic this time around, because I so do not want to feel like I'm going to lose my lunch again today. "I'm sorry for getting riled up, Nurse Beckett. I shouldn't have done that, and I knew better. I won't do it again."

"I understand, Mister Aspen," she says, smiling. "Let me guess- you're stressed and sick of being treated like just another filthy animal when you're so obviously much more than that. Does that sound about right?"

"Yeah," I say, "it sounds exactly right. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm sorry we've wasted your time, but we have to go to our next class."

"Thank you for stopping in, Mister Aspen," she says, giving Alaina and I a small wave of her hand as we walk out the door and she takes my paw in hers, which surprises me, but I try not to let it show. The last thing I need right about now is for someone to take the opportunity to use my emotions against me. That's one thing I learned, especially after my father never came home, was that emotions were fine as long as they could be held in check, and I sure as flock don't feel like I'm going to be able to flocking 'hold my emotions in check.'

Ugh, what's come over me? I'm not usually like this, but I can't help feeling like there's something off. I'm already on guard, maybe it was just my horrible conversation with Nurse Beckett that rubbed my fur the wrong way. Whatever the cases may be, though, I have to get to A and P.

Wait a second- Jenna and Isaac aren't going to have any idea where they're supposed to be, which I tell Alaina, and we fly up the stairs and back to Mister Smith's room less than a second before the bell rings from on high to tell us that it's time for us to move on to our next class of the day.

Dodging the stream of students piling out of the history classroom, most of the students absorbed in their little glowy-box things that I've heard called cell phones, and wave to catch Isaac and Jenna's attention as they walk out into the hallway.

Thankfully, they notice us, and come over to stand next to us, backs against the wall.

"So where to next, Alaina?" Jenna asks. "I have no idea where I'm going."

"I can appreciate that," I say. "Just follow us and we'll bring you right to where you need to be."

"That's good," Isaac says, smiling. "So what is this next class of ours?"

"Why don't you wait a few minutes and see, eh?" I say, making sure that both Jenna and Isaac can see my smile and tell that I'm only trying to cheer everyone up, especially myself. Well, maybe not the fact that the mammal that most needs to be cheered up is none other than me, myself, that wouldn't be good, now would it?

Before I can think about that, though, we reach the part of the hallway where the A and P classroom is, and I push the door open, then once everyone's in, take my seat at the front of the class.

Thankfully, the teacher hasn't taken attendance yet, which gives me the opportunity to fish around inside the desk to see if there's a spare textbook, because I managed to completely forget about the fact that I was going to need mine. Unfortunately for me, though, there's not, and so, taking a quick glance over my shoulder to see if the teacher's still busy with whatever she was doing.

Thankfully for me, she is- it looks as though she's checking her phone, and so I slip out of my seat as quietly as I can, then slip to the back of the room, where the teacher, whose name I can't seem to remember off of the top of my head, keeps all of their books.

I snag one as quietly as is mammaly possible, then slink back to my seat just in time for the teacher to put her phone down and turn to the class.

"Good morning, class," she says, with an enthusiasm that I applaud her for having. I'm a fox, and we foxes are nocturnal. Case in point, I'm not a morning mammal, and so my energy level is nowhere near hers.

"Good morning, Ms. Palmer," the class echoes, and I can hear in their voices that they're not morning people either.

"I notice," Ms. Palmer says, picking two books off of the stack that seems to have been conjured into being on her desk, then passing one to both Jenna and Isaac, "that we have two new students here with us today. Would both of you mind terribly if I asked you to introduce yourselves?"

"I don't mind," Isaac says, tan tail swishing happily behind him. "I'm Isaac Neve. I'm new, as you can probably all tell, and if you didn't pick up on it from the last name, I'm Mrs. Neve's son, and yes, I know, we're different species. Please don't judge. Other than that," he says, sitting down, "I'm looking forward to learning with all of you from here on out."

"It's nice to meet you as well, Isaac," a few of the members of the class pipe up, then fall silent again as Ms. Palmer gestures to Jenna, who heads to the front of the room instead of just standing at her desk like her brother.

"Hello, everyone," Jenna says, the complete opposite of the shy vixen that I was expecting. "I'm Jenna Neve, Isaac's little sister, although I'd better not ever hear him call me that," she says, shooting him a withering glare, then turns back to the class. "I know that you've already heard the spiel from my brother, but the same goes for me. I'm glad to be here, and I'm looking forward to learning with everyone."

With that, she heads back to her desk, chin held high in a show of confidence, and although I say nothing, inside I'm clapping wildly for both of them.

"Thank you for the introductions, Jenna and Isaac," Ms. Palmer says. "Now it's time for today's lesson- stereotypes and why we have them." Noticing the looks some of the members of the class are giving her, she says, "Yes, I know that it's a topic for sociology, but seeing as we have two new members of our class, I don't suppose that it's going to hurt."

"It plays into anatomy a little, I suppose," Jenna says, new-found confidence showing in the tone of her voice, "because I get the sneaking suspicion that those stereotypes are going to be in ration to us, and we're not exactly like humans, eh?"

Palmer nods, smiling. "I think you've caught on, Jenna," she says. "That's it exactly- why? Why do we have stereotypes?"

"I have an idea," I say, raising my paw, and Ms. Roche calls on me. "Yes, Theo?"

"Well, for one thing, we're different species, right? And from what I've come to learn in my experiences, people- humans, not mammals like Alaina, Jenna, Isaac, or me- they're used to judging those around them based on how they look. And although I excused us from that, it's not exactly true. There are plenty of animal stereotypes on Terra, and most of them have to do with anatomy- how we look.

"Something that surprised me, more than anything, when I came to Earth was how badly foxes are viewed, and why? Because we're seen as nothing more than thieves, and the red fur that most of us has seems to make most people here on Earth think we're evil. I swear, I'm pretty much harmless."

"Just what does any of this matter, and how does it have anything to do with anatomy?" comes a voice from the back of the room, and before any of us four can say anything, Ms. Palmer answers his question.

"Fur is part of your anatomy, isn't it? Or in our cases, hair? And your appearance is physiology, which is due to anatomy, right?"

"I suppose," the kid in the back grumbles. "My family isn't the greatest when it comes to accepting others, especially because we're used to being judged based on how we look."

At that, I turn around, and what I see takes me by surprise. I was expecting a human, but instead, it's a male cheetah.

Okay, I think. Just how in this world did I not notice that there was another mammal like me in this building? And when did he get here?

"I don't believe we've been introduced, Mister…?" Palmer asks, tapping her pen on her attendance sheet.

"Jubatus. Anthony Jubatus, and yes, I'm new. I just moved here from another state. I'm hoping that this school will be better than the last one."

"I see," Ms. Palmer says, "and I'd ask you to can the attitude, young sir."

"Yes, ma'am, of course," Anthony says, sighing. "I don't know what got into me, but I've been having a bit of a rough morning," he says, "and all of the looks that I've been getting from my fellow students have just rubbed my fur the wrong way this morning."

He sighs, then turns his head to face Ms. Palmer directly. "I'm not usually this irritable, ma'am, and I'm sorry."

"Just don't do it again, understood? I won't tolerate such behavior in my classroom, and as I was saying, we're talking about stereotypes today because…"

At this point, I tune here out, and the rest of the class starts to slip away, that is, until I hear the rustling of papers behind me, and I see that Ms. Palmer is going around and passing out half sheets of a bright orange paper. When she gets around to me, she hands me a sheet, which I take and start to read. It looks like we're going to be doing a group project (oh, joy, my favorite!) on the evolution of the Parallel Universes. Well, this could be interesting, because it's a subject that I actually know a little bit about. That, and it's going to be easy as pie, as another of the human idioms that I've picked up goes, because I know just where to look for some information.

Everything sounds great about it, so then why am I on guard about it, I wonder?

Ms. Roche answers my question not a second after I've finished asking it of myself.

"Okay, everyone," she says, "did you think that you were just going to be able to do this project on your own?"

Based on the nods and worried looks I see come onto nearly everyone's faces, I take it that the answer to that question, at least for most of us, is oh, hell yes, why would I want to pair off?

Although I kinda hate to admit it (and I won't, at least, not out loud), I don't much care for group or partner work much myself, but I've noticed that that side of me has only really started to show up during my time here on Earth, and dang, I need to stuff it.

A few seconds later, Ms. Roche begins to call out partners. I hear her pair off Alaina with Isaac, and a few other pairs that I don't recognize, and then, "Anthony and Isaac."

Oh, flock.

He comes over to me, smiling, and extends a paw for me to shake, which I do, albeit nervously.

"Hi," I say, giving him a wave of my paw. "I'm Theodore Aspen, but you can call me Theo."

"Anthony Jubatus," he says, taking my proffered paw and giving it a firm shake. "It's nice to meet you, and look," he says, ducking his head in embarrassment. "I really am sorry about earlier. I was a real ass, and I hope you won't hate me for it."

"Yeah, you were," I say, laughing slightly, "and no," I say, "I don't think that I'm going to mind working with with you, just as long as you won't try to take my head off."

"Don't worry," Anthony says, "I won't. Like I said, I don't know why I was such an ass, and I mean no offense no offense to donkeys."

"I don't think that they're going to mind, Theo. So what's our topic? My paper didn't say."

"Well, good for you, Anthony," I say, "Mine did, and it just so happens to be on a subject that I know a little bit about- the evolution of the parallel universes and the life within them."

"Well," Anthony says, "it just so happens that I know a little about them. After all, I'm adopted from Terra. You? I can't imagine that you were born here on Earth, I mean…"

"I get what you mean," I say, "and you're right. Alaina and I are exchange students from Terra."

"I take it that Alaina's the vixen?" he asks, and I scoff, then catch myself.

"No, actually, Anthony," I say, "she's the gray and tan wolf."

"Do you love her?" he asks, and I jump back a little in surprise.

"What? No, no! We're just friends."

"I see. So what should our first steps be for this project?"

"Well, I think that we should get our tails to the library. You?"

"That's what I was thinking that we should do first as well," he says, and raises his hand to get Ms. Palmer's attention.

"Yes, Mister Jubatus?" she asks. "Do you have a question?"

"Yes, actually, I do, Ms. Palmer. May Theo and I have permission to go to the library for some resources for our project?"

"Of course, Anthony," she says, and both Anthony and I get up from our seats, making sure to take our books and other junk with us, seeing as I don't plan on coming back to here, at least until tomorrow, and I can see by the glint in Anthony's amber eyes that he's not planning on it, either.

With that, we step out into the hallway and make our way down to the library, and as soon as we make it inside, Anthony asks me what I want him to look for.

"How about you search the stacks for James Phelps's A History: Terra and Earth? I think that it should be in the nine hundreds- nine-oh-four, if I remember correctly. And before you ask, my mother was a librarian."

"Was?" Anthony asks, ears perking in confusion. "Does that mean…?"

Although he doesn't finish the question, I know what he's asking, and a cold ice pick of pain stabs me in the heart. "I don't know," I say, feeling tears starting to well in the corners of my eyes for the day in a row, and I hate that I can't fight them back down.

"Yes," I say. "Or, well, at least, I think so. Tensions on Terra were starting to rise when I left for Earth, and well, like me, she was a lover, not a fighter. I don't know, but probably," I say, wiping my tears away with the backs of my paws, and turn back to Anthony, who I notice is looking at me with a look of concern.

"Are you all okay there, Theo? I'm sorry if I hit a nerve or something, but I promise, it was an accident."

"I know," I say, sniffling like a kit and hating myself for it, at least for that split second. "So can you help me find that book, man?"

"Yeah," he says, moving to the shelves. "What did you say that the book was called?"

"A History: Terra and Earth, by James Phelps. Did you find it?"

"I think I did," he says, tail flicking out behind him while he struggles to wrench an enormous leather volume off of the shelf. "Can you help me with this, Theo?" he asks, groaning with the strain of fighting against the weight of the other books that press in on this one tome.

"Yeah," I say, leaning my own weight backwards against the book, and thankfully, there's no one else in the library to hear us tumble to the ground in two heaps of fur as the book comes loose and decides to come flying out towards us.

For the shortest of seconds, both of us are to surprised by our sudden revelations that we're lying on the ground to either react or do much of anything.

Finally, though, my brain starts to kick back into gear, and I shove the book off of myself and onto the floor, and as I do, I see Anthony heave it up off of the floor, groaning with the effort.

"Do you need a hand there, man? Or rather, a helping paw?"

"Yeah, that sure would be nice," he says, struggling with the weight of such a book. "Can you lift the other end?"

"Yeah," I say, and take the proffered end of the book. Struggling with it together, we manage to fight it over to the nearest table, about ten feet away, then drop it onto the table.

At it lands, it makes a loud bang, and both of us look around to see if we've disturbed anyone and whether or not there's an angry librarian coming for us to tell us to shush. Thankfully, though, there's not, and in fact, there's not a single other living creature in the library save for the aloe plants on the circulation desk, and even those, judging from how brown and wilted their leaves are, don't quite look as if they're going to be alive for much longer.

"So," Anthony says, peeling open the cover of the book, "where do we start?"

"I would look for the section on the origins of the dual universes," I say, bending my tail around to tap its black end against the chapter line in the index.

"Sorry," Anthony says, "and yes, I know it's a side track, but that's pretty cool what you can do with your tail."

"It's nothing special," I say. "All mammals like me can do it."

"Well, I still think it's neat. Do you think that we'll find anything on it in this book?"

"I don't know," I say. "Truth be told, I've only ever read a few sections, and that was because I was trying to practice my human."

"What do you mean by that, 'practice your human'? I can understand you just fine? Are you saying that human- English being the version of English that we're speaking right now- isn't your first language?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Anthony, and do you mind if I call you Tony?"

"No, I don't mind," he says. "But that leads me to a question of my own, and then can we get back to our project?"

"Sure," I say, taking a seat at the table and leafing my way through a few pages and skimming them to see if I can pick out any important info from them.

"Is Theo your nickname, or is it your full name?" he asks, taking his own seat directly across the table from me.

"It's short for Theodore, so, yes, it's a nickname. Why?"

"I was just wondering. Do you think that it was meant to be ironic, in a way?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"Well, you're a male fox, right?"

"Right…," I say, having not a single clue where he's trying to go with what he's saying.

"Well, another nickname for Theodore is Todd, and what are you?"

"A male fox, I say, also called a… oh, I get it, I say, realization sinking in. "A tod. No, I hadn't thought about that. Now, can we please get back to the project?"

"Sure," Tony says, and turns back to the index. "Let's see," he says, using his exposed claw to skim down the page until he finds the chapter that he seems to be looking for, and beckons me over to look at what he's found- a page with a heading that reads "Origins of the Parallel Universes."

"Think this could be of any use to us?" he asks, tail twitching behind his back. "Because it certainly looks like it could turn out to be useful…"

"Sounds fine to me, man," I say, and begin to read through the pages. I'm kinda embarrassed to admit that there are some events in Terra's that I still don't know anything about, even after having studied its history for nearly my entire life, but hey, as the human expression goes, you learn something new every day, and that's certainly true for for me.

After ten more minutes of reading, I stop, and begin to jot down some of the facts of interest in what I've read, and there are quite a few.

Tony notices that I've stopped, and he pauses in reading the book that he snagged off of the shelves while I was reading my passage here. "So what did you manage to find in that book of yours, Theo? Anything that we could use for our project?"

"Well, seeing as we have to write papers on the evolution of life on either side of the Bridge, yes, I think that it certainly will be: it's about exactly that, and I've found that there's way, way, way more to this than it seems. I mean, although both universes came into being at just about the same time, they weren't connected in any way until the first Intra-Universal War about a million years ago. Seems like each detected the other at about the same time and built the technology needed to build the Bridge, then crossed it with their entire armies. Suffice it to say, it didn't turn out well at all for either side, but that didn't change anything. Small skirmishes kept happening on each side of the Bridge for milennia, but neither side took larger actions until about eighty thousand years ago. The same thing happened, and then again six thousand years ago.

"By then, so it seems, both sides had finally figured out that it was safer to make peace, not war, and Earth established the Global Peace Corps to keep the balance, and so far, it's been great. What I've heard inklings of, though, seem to say that there could be another war on the horizon, and believe you me, I want no flocking part in that," I say, tail starting to flick nervously behind me

"I understand completely, Theo," Tony says, smiling sadly. "I lost my family in one of those skirmishes. Earth fighters shot down the spaceship that was carrying my mom, my dad, my brothers and sisters, my entire family. That's how I ended up here, actually. Terra established a program to put orphaned kits up for adoption, and through some cosmic lapse in judgement, they forgot to make it illegal for citizens of Earth to adopt them. By the time they caught on, I was already here, and I get the feeling that Isaac and Jenna both were as well."

"I see," I say, tapping my forehead in thought. "So then how did I end up over here, if tensions were so high?"

"From what I've learned, Theo," Tony says, "I think that it was meant to be a peace offering of sorts, a proverbial olive branch, if that's the right term."

"I think that that's the right term, yes," I say, jotting down a few notes about our conversation just in the slim to nothing chance that I'll ever need them again. Oh well, because it's never going to hurt anyone to be prepared, and I am nothing if not prepared for every single little thing that could ever go wrong. (Well, not exactly, but I'm not too worried about it, the idea behind it's still the same.)

"Well," Tony says, jotting down a few notes of his own with a pencil that I hadn't quite noticed that he'd had with him, "I think that you're right about that. Speaking of that, Theo, and yes, I know we're going to go off on another sidetrack, but I'll be more than willing to stay after- no offense, but I know that you already have to stay, and besides, I need a little time to get away from home."

"Oh?" I ask. "If everything alright?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it. Yes, everything's fine, but I don't want to bring it up." He coughs, then looks at me, then back to the book lying open on the table's hard wooden top. "Can we please get back to the project that we have to get done? I mean, I know that Ms. Palmer isn't going to be expecting us back to class. No offense, but the woman is somewhat of a ditz."

"I'm not even going to ask what that word means," I say. "So do you think that we should find some more sources now and save more reading of this flocking thing until tomorrow, or should we just keep on pushing through? I'd like to hear what you think, but as for me, well, I'm hoping that we might be able to set this stupid thing aside until tomorrow, that is, if you don't mind….?"

"Why would I mind?" I ask. "Are you alright? You don't look so hot, man," I say, noticing the pallor that's come across his muzzle and face.

"Yeah, if you call trying to hide from crazy family members an 'alright existence,' you know?"

"Why is it," I wonder aloud, shaking my head, "that almost any person or mammal- no, scratch that, every person or mammal that I want to be mad at has some traumatic event in their history, some defining moment that seems to have bent them in a direction that explains how they are why they are?"

"I got nothin'," Tony says shaking his own head sadly. "And it's not even that bad, I mean, not anymore, you know?"

"No, Tony, I don't know," I say, a sudden whirlwind of emotions having sprung to life inside of me like a leaky faucet, "I've never been in a situation like that, although I'm pretty flocking certain that if I ever were to be in that kind of a spot, I would tell someone that I knew could help me, instead of letting that self-doubt manifest itself as unchecked rage and aggression, you know?"

"I don't know either, but why don't you try to help me figure all of that scat out after school this afternoon? I mean, I'll probably be there. No, scratch that, I will be there. I'm going to figure out how I can turn that pent-up frustration into something. I've been trying to figure out what that something should be, and I think that I've finally figured it out."

"Well," I say, smiling, "I'm glad to hear that, and if you'd care to share what that 'something' might be, well, then I'm more than willing to listen if you want to talk to me about it, you know? It'd be great practice for when I head back to Terra before next school year- I actually want to become a counselor."

"Well," he says, drumming his fingers on the table's top, "That, I think, is just about the coolest thing that I've ever heard, and by the way, I'm really sorry about all of these side tracks, and, again, I'm sorry about being an ass to you in class earlier."

"Look," I say, "I didn't know about your family, and I'm sorry to find out about it."

"Yeah," he says, "I'm kinda stuck as to what I should do about it, you know?"

"I get it, man," I say, hoping the smile that I give him (sans any teeth showing) will reassure him. "You're feeling screwed to high heaven, and you have no flocking idea what you should do, right? Yes, I know that we've seriously gone off track, but this needs to be dealt with, as soon as is flocking possible, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Um… he says, and based on the look on his muzzle, he doesn't quite know how to feel about the whole thing, and truth be told, neither do I. I mean, this is the guy, who not half an hour before this, was treating me as if I were worth no more than a piece of scat, and yet…. After hearing his backstory and his explanation, I'm starting to feel somewhat sorry for the guy, and you know what?

He deserves it, he really does. I can't stay mad at him, and besides, what good would that do us? I wouldn't do us a single flocking ounce of good, that's for absolute certain.

"So," I say, taking as deep of a breath as I can and letting it out slowly, feeling all of the tension that's built up in my body over the course of the last two days come draining out. "It's nearly the end of the class," I say, pointing to the wooden clock that hangs above the library's oaken double doors, "so we're going to need to clean up. Do you think that the school staff is going to care if we don't put this book back on the shelf?"

"Yeah, I think that they would most certainly mind," I say, feeling my hackles raise as I think about the asses that this school has for administration, "and I sure as flock don't want to get on their bad side any more than I already am, you know?"

"I understand you completely," Tony says, hoisting the book back onto the shelf and shoving it back into its earlier spot between an edition of the Encyclopaedia Globalia from some thirty-plus years ago and a copy of the Warbler's Dictionary from not too long after that. Dang, why are all of these books so far out of date?

Put just about as simply as I can, I have no idea why, but they're all we have, because the Inter-Galactic Web connection that one can get in this building is absolutely flocking awful as scat, but I can't worry about that right at this exact minute, I have to get back to class before the bell rings.

I tell that to Tony, and he scoops up the few papers that he has but doesn't put back the other book that he took off of the shelf earlier.

"Dude, aren't you going to put that back on the shelf?" I ask. "I don't want either of us to get in trouble, and I hope you understand what I'm trying to get at."

"Oh, don't worry," he says, nodding. "I'm not going to worry about it, and besides, like you said, it's almost time for us to get back to class, and I'll see you this afternoon, right?"

"Right," I say, and we head back to Ms. Roche's room just seconds before the bell rings.

"Okay," she says. "How was your time in the library? I hope it was productive, normally I don't let students stay there unsupervised."

"It went well," Tony says, answering her question before my brain even has the opportunity to process that the question was even asked.

"Well," Ms. Palmer says, smiling a smile that doesn't quite come across as entirely genuine to me, "I'm certainly glad to hear that everything's going well. Did you find enough info for your projects, or are you both going to need to go back to the library during this class period tomorrow?"

"No, Ms. Palmer," I say, brain having come back online this time, "we're going to need to go to the library again tomorrow." I pause, then add, "That is, if you don't have any objections to that."

"Why would I?" she asks. "Isn't the point of the library being there so that students who need the books or computers can use them?"

"I would certainly hope so," she says. "But our school is just about the worst I've ever seen when it comes to such things, wouldn't you know?"

"I do," I say, "which is why we ended up hauling a few books off of the shelves."

"Always a good idea," she says, then says, "I'll see you both in class tomorrow. Until then, have a great day."

"I'm sure we both will," Tony says. "Off to lunch, now, is it?" he asks. "What would you recommend?"

"Dude," I say, "you do remember that this is only my second day at this school, right? And besides, yesterday wasn't the greatest of days, so from now on, I'm going to eat lunch with Mrs. Neve. Do you know her? She's the Algebra teacher, her room is right across from that of the Spanish teacher, whose name I don't yet know."

"Oh, okay," Tony says. "Would you mind if I joined you guys today?"

"What makes you think I'd care? I'm an animal in a building where everybody thinks that having fur instead of hair automatically makes one a freak, and seeing as you seem to be in the same boat, flock no, I don't care! Come on, let's go, and I'll introduce you to everyone!"

"Okay," Tony says, tagging along behind me, and we dash down the hallways as quickly as we can until we reach where we were heading."

"Hello, Theo," Mrs. Neve says, giving me a friendly wave of the hand as soon as she sees me walk in through the door. "We were actually just about to get started; I take it that you'd like to join us?"

"If you wouldn't mind," I say. "And also if you have no objections, I've brought along another mammal to join us."

"No, I wouldn't mind another person eating with us at all," Jenna says, and her brother nods as well.

"We don't care," he says, getting up from his seat at the table to grab two more off of the stack in the back of the room near the broom closet, and then places said chairs at the table.

Sitting back down, he gestures to them with a flick of his paw. "Those aren't for me, you know. Please, come sit yourselves down and join us, and if you would be so kind," he says, gesturing to Tony, "would you mind introducing yourself? I figure that you already know Theo, and he knows us, but the rest of us don't know you."

"Well," Tony says, "I'm Anthony Jubatus, but most people and other mammals that I know call me Tony. It's nice to meet you all," he says, smiling nervously. "I figure you've probably managed to figure it out for yourselves already, but I'm new here."

"First day?" Jenna asks, smiling.

"Why yes," Tony says, returning her smile with a brilliant one of his own. "How did you guess that?"

"Because," Isaac says, grinning, "as much as we may look as if we;ve been here forever and a day or three, this is actually out first days too. Believe you me, man," he says, the grin on his muzzle growing wider as he does, "we feel you, we really do. How's the school life been treating you so far? Decent, I would hope, for both your sake and mine."

"Yeah, it's been okay," Tony says. "I mean, I suppose that it's somewhat of a given that I have no flocking clue what I'm doing, and as you've probably managed to figure out, I can be a bit of an ass when I'm nervous, no offense meant to any donkey."

"I don't think that they're going to take any, Tony, and I promise, we're not judging."

"Thank you all so much," he says. "Do you guys (and gals, of course) have any idea just how dam hard it is to get by in a school like this? Every single human that I pass by in the hallway flinches away from me, and if I try to smile at them, well, then they act as if they're scared to death that they're going to be eaten. I'm not a mean mammal, but what I am is flocking fed up with this scat. I may not be covered in just plain skin; yes, I have a tail and whiskers and teeth, but that doesn't make me any less of a person than any other person, human or otherwise, in this building."

"But you know what?" Isaac says, tail twitching behind him, ears cocked back on top of his head, "The humans aren't going to care about that. All they see when they look at us- all that they're ever going to see when they look at us, can you guess what it is?"

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know!" Tony says, smarmy look plastered on his muzzle. "All that humans are ever going to see when they look at us is a threat. That's it," he says, "unless we change that attitude."

"That's great," I say, "but just how are we going to manage that? No humans are ever going to want to listen to us, that's an absolute given, and the fact that we're predators doesn't help our cases in the slightest, now does it?"

"No, you're right," Jenna says, silver fur glinting in the bright shaft of sunlight that's streaming in through the open window behind her, "that unfortunate fact doesn't help us one flocking bit, not one bit at all, so what the flock are we supposed to do about it? I mean, it's all fine with me if everyone just wants to complain and not do anything about it, because, as my dear brother over here can attest, I am the queen of bitching, pardon the language, Mom."

"You're more than pardoned, Jenna, but would you please mind keeping the language to a minimum from here on out, kapische?"

"Kaposh," Jenna says, smiling. "Alright, I'll can it, but it doesn't make it less annoying to be treated like scat, you know? Besides, I don't know why you're so darn worried about it, mom, and besides, you know it's the truth. We look different than everyone else, and so the humans are just going to shove us to the sides, and most of the time, that's quite literal. I mean, I've only been here for less than three hours, and I've already seen more dirty looks than I really care to recall. I mean, why do people treat us like this? We're worth more than scat and the pelts we wear for skin, so then why- why, why why? do humans have to act like that towards us? Add to that the plain injustness that allows them to get away with it, I mean, if any of us were to ever try anything towards them that they do towards us, well, then, we're going to be the ones getting blamed for it, and me, I don't want to deal with it anymore. Three hours is enough, and I get the feeling that I'm getting it easy compared to either you, Alaina, or you, Theo. Am I right?"

We both sigh in unision. "You're more than right, Jenna," I say, "you're flocking perfectly on point, that's hat you are."

"Has anyone ever called you an arrow?" Alaina asks, smiling, "because you just hit the bullseye, and smack dab in dead center, too. No, Jenna," she says, sighing, "life has been the exact opposite of easy for us these last few days. But," she says, sighing again as she smiles, "that's why us two, Theo and I- that's why we put up with it."

"You put up with it because it's difficult? That doesn't make any sense, Alaina."

"Sorry, I misspoke," Alaina says, blushing slightly. "What I meant to say was that I don't put up with this scat because it's difficult, I put up with it because I want to help the two of you and I want to save you two from ever having to deal with quite what I've been putting up with. Is that clearer, or should I say it again?"

"I think you're fine, Alaina, and please, you're more than welcome to vent if you feel like it. Believe me, I'm not going to judge you. I promise, that's the absolute last thing on my mind right now, and I sincerely hope that you understand that."

"I understand that perfectly well coming from you, Mrs. Neve," Alaina says, growling softly, claws flexing out in frustration, "but the problem comes when I can't seem to grt the same message through the skulls of my new schoolmates, who all seem, at least in my perception of them, to think that I'm dumber than a box of scats, if you catch my drift."

"I do catch your drift, Alaina, but like I said to Jenna earlier, how is complaining going to do anything save for annoy the people who you're going to want to listen and pay positive attention to you? If you're going to complain, I'd suggest canning it and not setting it on the shelf for another day. Instead, Alaina, what I would do, my friend, is I would channel that frustrfation and anger and then bend it into something positive, which, from the looks of things, you're already foing, and may I add that you're doing it excellently?"

"Well, thank you, Mrs. Neve. May I ask why you decided to adopt Isaac and Jenna? They're wonderful mammals, don't get me wrong, I'm just wondering how you came to take them in as your daughter and as your son."

"Well," Mrs. Neve says, and as she does, her voice cracks and I can see tears start to well in the corners of both of her eyes, and I see both Isaac and Alaina place comforting paws on her shoulders. "It's going to- sniff- take a while, but- sniff- you four do have me for class next period anyway, so I'm not feeling too awfully worried about the time.

"Well," she says, sighing for the third time in just under three minutes, "it had been a rough year for me, to say the least, and losing my husband of twenty six, nearly twenty seven years was the start point of the slide down one hell of a steep hill, and I finally hit rock bottom one day. I called my friend up- Mrs. Macgutz, who used to teach Environmental Science as well as freshman Bio 101 before her retirement just over three and a half years ago- and I told her about what had just happened, this was on my way back from the funeral, you see, and so I was feeling awfully distraught, as I'm sure that you all can imagine…."

"I can, Mom," Isaac says, "I can imagine completely."

"I'm glad to hear that," Mrs. Neve says, smiling sadly, "and I feel awful about having to tell you both in the first place, but everyone here, and you two especially, needed to know- need to know- what my backstory is.

"So anyways," she continues, "I was heading home from the funeral, absolutely distraught, and on top of that, I had just found out the day before that I was completely incapable of having and kids (not kits) of my own. Suffice it to say, it was a pretty shitty day, and no, I don't care about what I just said. Sometimes," she says, smiling slightly through her tears, "a curse word is the perfect word that one needs to convey the feelings that are running through them at the moment.

"Anyways, though, I was heading home from the supermarket no more than twelve hours after my dead departed husband's wake, when I see that I'm passing by the adoption agency, you know, the one that's down a few blocks from the school, the one that's on the corner of Lewiston and Onondassis?"

"Umm… not exactly, Mom," Jenna says, "but you were saying?"

"Yes, as I was saying," Mrs. Neve continues, "I was passing by the old adoption agency when I saw that they were open. 'What the heck,' I can remember thinking. 'I might as well stop in and take a look around, seeing as I think that I'm going to need some company now that my husband's gone.' To this day, I don't know why I did it, but I did. I went in the front door- I can remember the chime of the bells that the clerks had hung on the door to serve as their doorbell, and I went right up to the counter. Can you guess what I told them?" she asks, a twinkling light that wasn't there more than five seconds earlier beginning to shine brightly in the backs of her eyes.

"No, what did you tell them?" all of us ask, almost simultaneously, then all try to fight back our laughter and, well, needless to say, we all fail miserably. Thankfully, Mrs. Neve doesn't seem to mind. In fact, I can see her smiling as well at our absolute lunacy.

"Well, what I told them was that I was looking to adopt, and they said, and I quote, 'Are you sure you don't want to go to the animal shelter? 'Cause all we got here is fluffy freaks, I wonder if they're sending all of the humans over there…'."

"What arseholes," Jenna says, teeth bared in a snarl, that, had I not known her, I would have though that she was trying to tear my throat straight out of my neck.

"Absolutely agreed," I say. "So what did you do next? I'd like to hear more of the story, that is, if there's any more to tell that you're willing to share."

"Well, of course they're more to the story, and yes, I'm willing to share it.

"Okay," she says, "Well, I was at the adoption agency, and now, well, now I'm wondering what the receptionist means by 'there are only fluffy freaks.' Turns out that those 'fluffy freaks' that the receptionist was talking about were you two, both curled around each other, holding the other's tail. That was fifteen years ago, and well, I haven't looked back since, except every so often when I feel especially alone, and I think about how you two both came into my life, almost by chance, and I don't regret it, not a single flocking bit.

"Of course," she continues, "I was somewhat afraid to send you both to school here, but I'm certainly glad to see that you're doing well, and I pray that I don't have to see you two, any of you in here, actually, turned into flying foxes (or wolves) like what happened yesterday.

"If it does happen, though," she continues, grinning evilly, "you have my permission to hunt them down, chase them through the halls, whatever- heck, make them think that you've reverted to your 'primitive, savage ways' if you really want to, and I'll stand by you each and every single step of the way, do you understand that?"

"Yes, Mom," Jenna and Isaac say, sporting wild grins of their own. "We certainly do."

"And what about you two?" Mrs. Neve asks, grin slightly lessening. "What would you do, given that opportunity?"

"Well," I say, feeling a maniacal grin of my own start to creep its way onto my muzzle, "I don't know, really, but all of a sudden, I'm feeling absolutely ready and willing to just go for it, you know? To flock with what other people and mammals say, I'm sick of being treated like a sack of scat, and yet… I really, really, really don't want to get my furry rear into any more messes, because I'm getting that really annoying feeling that they're going to be just about impossible to clean up.

"Here's what I think that we should do," I say, getting up from my desk and snagging a number two pencil and several sheets of lined paper from the heaps and piles that litter the entire back of Mrs. Neve's room, then dash back to my seat as quickly as I can manage.

"So, as I was saying," I say, tapping on the stack of paper with the end of the pencil, "I think that we should just stop complaining about the scat and that life has thrown at us and the hoops that it's forced us to jump through, because, if I'm being completely honest with myself and being completely truthful and honest for every other person and mammal around me, the bitching that I can do- and don't ask me to apologize for my language just now, because I don't lie, and I don't feel sorry one flocking bit, capische?

"I think that we need to learn how to get along with everyone else, but here's the problem- they don't want to get along with us, am I right or am I right?" I say, smiling sadly.

"You're more than just right, Theo," Jenna says, tail swishing angrily back and forth and back and forth behind her, "you're absolutely spot on."

"Thank you, Jenna," I say, giving her the brightest smile that I can manage to plaster on my muzzle, then begin to speak once again. "Everybody's too flocking preoccupied with seeing us as different to see that we're not different at all, save for the fur and tail."

"Oh, and the teeth," Alaina says, running her middle finger along her sharp canines, "we have to worry about teeth, too."

"Exactly, Alaina. Look," I sigh, letting out one long breath in a somewhat angry huff, "we need to prove to those arseholes with sticks up their you-know-wheres that we're just as much of people as they are, and I think I have a plan to do just that."

"Oh?" Isaac says, and the dour look on his muzzle reveals how truly joyless he feels at the moment. "Look, Theo, and I'm sorry, but at this point in the conversation, I'm really kinda starting to feel like all that we've managed to do for the last ten minutes is spin this conversation around in circle after circle after circle. Can you just cut to the chase, please?"

"Yes, I can, Isaac, and I will," I say, tapping the sheaf of papers in my one paw with the black and chrome ballpoint that I hold in the other. Problem: humans think we're freaks, yes?"

Seeing the looks of uh, duh, isn't that exactly what we've just spent and wasted the last ten minutes plus talking about?, I look down at my stack of paper, lined with thin blue, and start to write, then, finally managing to place my jumbled stack of thoughts into a train of thought that at least seems somewhat organized, I look up to my fellow students, and begin to speak again, making sure to go as slowly as I need to to keep all of my thoughts straight.

"They see us as different," I say, "because they don't understand us. They don't understand that all we are are the same basic organisms evolved in different ways. They think we're different because they don't know anything else. This is a small town, especially compared with the sprawling metropolises of Terra, so I can imagine that they wouldn't know much of the outside world, let alone the outside universe, so it's up to us to teach them about it, right? Show those pompous jerks that we're valuable, just as much as they are, and do you want to know how? How we can pull it off?"

"Yes, please," Mrs. Neve says, looking truly intrigued in what I'm saying for the first time in who knows how long, "I would like to hear more, if you would be so kind, Theo."

"Sure," I say, smiling. "Back on Terra, scientists had managed to develop a technology that would enable whosoever was using it to become a different species of a length of time. In fact, it was the development of that same technology that brought us peace on Terra after the first Planetary War that the different species fought amongst themselves nearly twenty, twenty-five thousand years ago. The scientists who developed it designed a small band that could be worn on the wrist, and the wearer would be transformed into a different species, not just in look, but in all other characteristics as well. In other words, the wearer would physically become that other species, down to the smallest detail."

"That sounds, well, interesting, to say the least, but I can't imagine that any of you would have happened to bring any of those along with you, now would you?"

"No, none of us did, why?"

"Because that now means that we're going to have to find ourselves some blueprints, but I really don't think that that idea's exactly what we're going to need right about now. Me, I think that we need to focus on the now, instead of getting ahead of ourselves and trying to build this armband or whatever it is. I mean, that's not to say that it wouldn't be helpful in our efforts to save your tails," Ms. Neve says, tapping her own pencil on the top of the desk, her frustration evident as the tapping grows faster and faster.

"So then what? I mean, we could try doing a presentation on it, but what good would that do us? I don't suppose that the humans would listen to us, save for probably Ms. Neve here, and that's not going to help us, now is it?" I ask, feeling completely lost and waaaaay too in over my fluffing head.

"Well, it surely wouldn't hurt anything, would it? I mean, if you don't try it, you'll never know, right?"

"Well…. Yeah," I say, sighing, "you're right, Ms. Neve. It's not going to hurt, and even if it does, at least we'll have explained ourselves, right?"

"Exactly, Theo," she says, giving me the biggest grin that I've ever seen a human give. "So where should we start?"

"I think that we- well, no, you- should begin by introducing yourselves. How does that sound?"

"Fine with me," I say, scratching that down on the page- presentation: intros first. "But what next?"

"Why not start by telling everyone a little bit about each one of you? What makes you who you are?"

"Sounds great," I say, tail beginning to flick excitedly behind me, "but how about we do that for each other first?"

"I can see why, so who'd like to start? Theo, since it was your idea in the first place, how about you go first?"

"Sounds fine to me," I say, smiling for a reason that I can't explain. I raise my paw, like I've seen mammals back on Terra do in the rehab groups that I used to volunteer in before I came here to Earth. "I'm Theodore Valley Aspen, most mammals and people call me Theo. I'm an exchange from Terra, and yes, I have a problem." At this, I can't help but laugh, mostly at the outlandishness of the situation.

"Go on, Theo," Mrs. Neve says, seeming to get into the groove that I've fallen into as well. "Do tell us- what is your problem?"

"Well," I say, playing up the act. "Well, Ms. Neve, I have a problem, and it's an awfully serious one…"

"What's that?"

"I'm a fox!" I say, laughing. "That's the problem, everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I swear, I'm not. I'm just different is all, but what am I supposed to do about that, huh? I'm stuck, and now all I want to do is just hug my tail until the big, bad world goes away," I say, snatching my tail behind my arms and pretending to wipe away a few tears from the corners of my eyes with my paw.

"Well, Theo," Alaina says, smiling along. "My name is Alaina Jalinina, and I'm having the same issue."

"Oh?" I say. If we're going to do this, we are so going to do the flock out of it, and I can tell that Alaina's thinking pretty much the exact same thing that I am. "But you're a wolf, Miss Jalinina, how could you possibly be having the same problem? I mean, I thought that humans revered wolves, treated them as if they were gods, or something like that, you know?"

"I mean," Alaina says, fighting to keep her laugh and snigger under control, "so I thought, but have you seen these toofers?" she asks, running one claw-tipped finger along the tops of her canines. "I mean, all the guys are afraid of them, so how am I supposed to get a mate with them looking so scary? I mean, that's all we are, right? Crazed beasts that let their instincts rule them, right?"

"That's what I was told," I say, and look at Ms. Neve, who I see is grinning madly. "So, Mrs. Neve, what should I do? I mean, they don't sell suppressants here, and I'm feeling wild…"

"Ooh! I know!" Jenna says, joining in the madness with us. "Give in, right? Give in to that animal instinct, because we couldn't possibly be doing anything but screwing around, right? I mean, I am just a sly fox, so what could I possibly know, right?"

"That's exactly it, Jenna," I say, finding it becoming ever harder to control my laughter. "And I'm a son of a vixen who just wants to tear into someone for dinner, because after all, I am a fox, and we are predators. Someone call the pirates," I snigger, feeling all of the pent up stress in my system start draining out of me so fast it feels as if the balloon of worry that has been- or rather, had been- sitting in my chest has been shot to pieces with a Vulponian laser cannon and is now lying shattered to pieces and empty inside of me, and I breath a long-suffering sigh of relief, "because I think that I'm a cannonball."

"That pun was awful, Mister Aspen," Isaac says, looking for all the world like he's about to explode with laughter, "just plain awful."

"And you are? I don't believe we've been introduced," I say, smiling broadly at him, completely uncaring that nearly my full array of teeth is on wide open display.

"What do you mean?" he begins to ask, and then catches on. "Oh. Oh, I get it. Well, everyone," he says, returning my smile with one of his own, and thankfully, it looks to me like het's decided to play along with what we crazy mammals are talking about, "I'm Isaac Neve, and I've recently discovered that I have an incurable disease, and I don't know if I'm going to be with you much longer." Seeing all the looks of pretend shock that we're all giving him, he smiles, and I can see the twinkle in his eyes along with the feigned sorrow that he's playing up (and doing a pretty flocking good job of it, if I do say so myself).

"Don't worry, everyone," he says, it's nothing, really, only an incurable case of having been born as a wolf, which also seems to be a dual diagnosis in a complete lack of intelligence. Oh, if I had only been born as a human, then my life could be so, so, so much easier, and I can just feel that I would be smarter. I just know it! Either that," he says, smile falling slightly, though I can tell that he's still playing around, or I wouldn't have to deal with this stupid stereotype in the first place. It makes me sooo mad, and now I just really, really, really want to howl." He pauses for a second, then looks at us as if he's suddenly had a revelation.

"Oh, wait," he says, putting one clawed finger to his lips in a 'wait, I'm thinking' gesture, "that's so stupid of me, wanting to howl, and flock, how stereotypical, but what else am I supposed to expect from myself, right? I mean, I am just a dumb wolf, right? Besides, no one else has ever bothered to tell me that I'm not stupid, and they most certainly haven't told me that I'm smart, so that must mean that I'm awfully flocking stupid, right? I mean, we are just animals, so what else could we be?"

"Ooh! Oooh! I know! I know!" Jenna says, nearly shouting and quite obviously having a wonderful time for herself."

"Oh?" Anthony says from behind me, which surprises me, because somehow- somehow- I managed to completely forget that he was even here with us. "I didn't know you could think, my dear charming Miss Neve. I thought that we were just ruled by our instincts, or are we not? After all, I am a leopard, so that means that I must be sneaky and a trickster, right?"

"But what else?" Jenna says, smiling even wider as the bell rings to signal the end of lunch.

"Anthony, where do you have to be next period?" Ms. Neve asks, tapping her pencil on the top of the desk with one hand and twirling one lock of her curly brown hair between two others.

"Actually, Mrs. Neve," he says, smiling happily, tail twitching slowly behind his back, "you're in luck, because apparently being thought of subpar when it comes to intelligence is good for getting assigned to Algebra, but the thing is, I've already taken it- I did that at my old school, and I was actually taking Trig when I managed to find myself smack dab right in the middle of a cat fight, and I don't mean the 'fight between two cats' kind, if you get what I mean.

"So, long story short," he says, "I got kicked out, and it was for trying to stop the fight. Of course, being a walking, talking mammal doesn't help anything."

"Were you born on Earth?" Jenna asks, ears perked high in curiosity. "If you don't want to tell me, of course, that's fine, but I'm just wondering. Canine curiosity, you see."

"I thought that cats were supposed to be the curious ones, Jenna," Tony says, smiling along as well. "But to answer your question, no, I wasn't born here on Earth, I was adopted before the tensions started to build up again about one Earth year ago. Why do you ask?"

"As I said, I was just wondering. I thought that maybe, had you been born on Earth, the humans might have accepted you, but I guess that I'm wrong. Would you mind telling us more of your story?" she asks, giving him a toothy smile of her own, and he nods softly.

"No, I wouldn't mind," he says, "I wouldn't mind at all. I need to talk, because I'm really good at keeping everything all canned up. But you guys wouldn't understand that, would you? I mean, you all look like relatively normal mammals…"

"Believe me," I say, "we're not normal mammals in the slightest, and believe me, none of us are in any different of a position than we're used to being in. Me, I was always the odd one out at school back on Terra, the one fox who wanted to make more of himself than go to war and become one of the soldiers that the government wanted to go fight whatever threats arose. No, me, I was the freak who wanted to help mammals have better lives instead of taking them. You don't need to worry, Tony, we get it, promise."

"That's good to know," Tony says, "because I'm not used to other people getting it, and before I moved here to this school, I was pretty flocking convinced that not a single other mammal understood me, and I'm going to get dark here, but before I got in trouble, I was seriously thinking about, well, using my claws for what they were meant to do, and using them on myself."

"What?!" we all burst out. "Why?"

"Because, well….," Tony lets out a long breath, sighing. "I'm going to need to take my shirt off to show you."

"Uh… okay," Ms. Neve says. "It sounds interesting, to say the very least, but go right ahead."

"Thank you, Ms. Neve," Tony says, unbuttoning his shirt and shucking it to the floor. It's then that we can see the long stripes of bare skin down his back, sets of five repeated several times. "I've hidden this for years, but I just need to talk now. I don't know why, but I'm sick of covering it up and pretending like it never happened."

"But what did happen, exactly?" I ask, feeling myself fail miserably in my attempts to disguise my disgust. "I hope that those scratches weren't caused by-" I fall short, my thought completing itself even though I don't give it voice.

"My parents," he says, with a look straight at me that feels burning hot and yet ice cold at the same time. "Apparently they didn't like someone quite like me in their house. To them, I was the spawn of the devil, and 'what I was' didn't help my case much either."

"Oh?" I ask, now thoroughly intrigued. What on Terra does he mean by that, that he was the 'spawn of the devil' to his parents, and what does he mean, 'what he was'? That makes no flocking sense to me whatsoever.

Thankfully, though, I don't have to wonder about the answer to that question for much longer, as Tony keeps talking, explaining himself and answering the question that I had thought.

"Long story short," he says, wincing, as if even just thinking about it hurts, which I can't blame him for, "I found out that, well, girls didn't quite tickle my fancy any more. See, that's the thing- cheetahs like me,we're expected to be straight. There's actually a law that enforces that, and well, I'm not, and let's just say that it sure as flock didn't turn out too well when I told my parents- I had a date that evening, and I had told my parents that I was going to be going out for the evening, but well, I didn't tell them that the event that I had scheduled was going to be a date- my first ever, actually.

"Well, it just so happened to pass that I was late getting ready- the tux hadn't been ready at the store from which I was renting it until about half an hour past the time that the store had told me, so I had to wait for it, and that put me behind. By the time I got home, my date had already called my house and left a few messages for me, trying to figure out where I was.

"Well, I came home, and I found my father waiting for me at the door, and damn, did he look pissed. I don't remember much of anything about the next ten minutes, except that he shouted at me at the top of my lungs, and that was it until the next morning, when I found myself dumped at the bus station several blocks down the road, tux in tattered ribbons, back screaming in pain, and when I pressed my back to try to stop some of the pain, my paw came back red. It's been a long road since, you know? I mean, I'm trying, really, to be a better mammal than I am, but every time I try to let myself relax, well, let's just leave it at the point where I say that I envision myself back where I was all of three months ago- in that situation that I just described for all of you. Then I scream myself awake, and around and around it goes," he says, tugging his shirt back on and buttoning it up one at a time, then turns back around and looks down at the floor.

"I've been out on the streets since," he says, "and yesterday I heard from the police that my father is going to be going to the can for the rest of his Karma-damned life, thank God and the Celestials above for that. Only problem is, now I can't go back into my own house, because the police have locked it all up tight as a Pandora's Box, and I don't want to go to jail. I mean, who else is there to blame if something happens, right? I'm one of maybe ten mammals, maybe twenty, twenty-five in the entire North-West Region, and even then, those of us that are here on this tiny little area of Earth don't usually come out, so it kinda goes without saying most of the time that humans aren't used to us."

"Yeah, no kidding," I say, and they all think when we do see us that we're just savages. 'Ezcoose me, meester hooman, but do you know where I find pretty gurl? It that time of year, yu noez.'" I say, jabbing fun at us again. "I mean, that seems to be the rap we get, so what time should we present our little skit thing that we were just doing a few minutes ago?"

"Well," Alaina says, her ears drooping, and she frowns, "from the experiences that all of us have had with the administration at this school, just what on Earth and Terra makes you think that the humans are ever- ever- going to listen to us, eh? Just what?"

"I don't know," I say, feeling foolish now for having even brought up the idea in the first place, "maybe I'm just idealistic, that's all. I'm just hoping that we can make them understand, but I'm kinda stuck, Alaina, because you're absolutely, completely, totally, and utterly correct. They're not going to listen, and yet they need to, because I swear that my tail is just about broken, and I still smell somewhat like spaghetti sauce from yesterday. Dear Celestials above, has it only been one day?"

"Yeah, Theo, it has only been one day, and we're only just about halfway through the second one- this one."

"Excuse me," Ms. Neve says, "but if I may?"

"If you may what, exactly?" I ask, confused as to what she's talking about. "I don't quite understand what you're getting at," I say, giving voice to my thoughts.

"Well, Theo, what I was trying to say was that I'd be more than willing to take your case to the superintendent and principal and present it to them myselves. And you know what?" she continues, grin growing ever wider as she continues, "if they say no, well, then they're just going to have to stuff it up their fat asses, and I don't care if it's offensive to donkeys, this is just something that I need to say- if they say no to me," she continues, then I'm going to do it anyways, by God, because I've been working here for far too long to give a flying fuck about what the administration has to say, because whatever the hell it is that they decide to jabber about, I don't care. I started tuning them out the first day that I started working here, it's been nearly twenty years since, and I have tenure. Besides that, they haven't fired me yet, and I don't plan on ever letting them. In fact, if they even so much as try to fire me, I'm just going to straight up resign, and then they can't touch me.

"So yes," she continues, managing to calm herself down somewhat, "I'm more than willing to stand by each and every single one of you if those asshats down in the main office try to stand in anyone's way."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Neve," Tony says, surprising the poor woman by wrapping her in a jumping tackle hug. Thankfully, though, she manages to stay on her feet, although she does still stumble backwards slightly in surprise as Tony lets go of her upper body, tucking his paws back into the side pockets of his corduroy slacks in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Mrs. N.," he says, blushing ashamedly and taking a few small steps backwards, away from her and towards the windows."

"That's quite alright, Tony," Ms. Neve says brushing her hair back down on top of her head and smoothing out all of the wrinkles in her blouse and skirt that Tony put there, "just make sure that you let me know ahead of time before you leap on me again, alright? I'm not mad, I can promise you that, I was just a little taken aback is all."

"I understand, Ms. Neve," Tony says, "and I am sorry, I wasn't thinking and I should have asked first before I jumped on you and-"

"Tony, calm down, please," Ms. Neve tells him, patting a reassuring hand on his back. "I understand, and please, believe me when I tell you that I'm not mad at you in the slightest, I'm just surprised is all."

"Thank you, Ms. Neve," he says, smiling apologetically, one hand ducked behind his left ear in embarrassment. "I noticed that it's nearly time for the end of our class period, so is it alright with you if I join you guys after school today?"

"Of course it is, Tony," Ms. Neve says, smiling and extending a reassuring hand across the table to cover his paw. "You're always more than welcome to join us, and I don't think that anyone of us here is going to object to some more company."

"I'm certainly glad to hear that," he says, smiling. "I could really, really stand a few helping paws in my life, as I'm sure that all of you that are here right now can understand, right?"

"We absolutely do," I say, tail twitching in yet another bit of emotion that I can't seem to explain. So when are we going to put this plan into action? The sooner the better, I think, but who's asking me?"

"Oh, Tony," I say, sighing, "would you please stop? We're not mad at you, we don't hate you, and in fact, all we want to do is to help you."

"Well, then, let's get this plan rocking, why don't we?"

"Weeeeell, it's kinda almost the end of the period, Tony," I say, giving him a wincing smile. How about we talk about this after school today, hmm? You did say that you were planning on being there, and besides, I have to report to detention after school for the next nine school days anyways, so you're going to have plenty of opportunities to talk to me, Tony," I say, smiling again. Dang, I sure seem to have been doing quite a lot of that in the last two days. Not that I mind smiling, of course. No, that's pretty much as far from the reality of my life as it's going to ever be possible to get, it's just that I've had pretty much nothing to smile about for the last several days, and I've managed to find myself surprised that I'm happy all of a sudden when I was finally getting used to feeling like no more than a worthless piece of scat.

"Alright, alright, Theo," Tony says, getting out of his chair and pushing it back up to the table as he goes, "you win, and I'll see you next class. Earth History next period if I'm remembering right, correct?"

"Correct," Alaina says, answering Tony's question for me. "Earth history next period, and both you and Theo have a project to do together."

"That's right," he says as the bell rings, and we file into the hallway as quickly as we can, and make our way to class.

Just over two and a quarter hours later, the final bell of the day rings, and I breathe a sigh of relief at having survived the day, and wander down the hallway to my locker. Spinning the lock open- right thirty-three, left forty-three, left forty- I click it open and begin to pull the things that I'm going to need for tomorrow out and place them into my bag one by one- A and P textbook, pack of colored pencils, index cards, and my beat nearly to tatters copy of Flockster's Vulpine-to-Human dictionary, eighteenth edition, third revision.

Okay, that should cover all of what I'm going to need for tonight, I think to myself, so I slide the lock back shut until I hear it click, then slip my backpack over my thin shoulders and set off back down the hallway, turning right at the stairs and taking them back down to the first story.

Unfortunately for me, though, as I pass by the principal's office, I find a strong arm heaving me up off my paws by the loop on the top of my backpack. I squirm, trying to break away, feeling a hot flash of fear spike through my heart when I hear the voice that's attached to the strong arm.

"Well, well, Mister Aspen," the voice says, its tenor ringing through my ears, and I gulp when I realize that it's the principal, who, like I've figured out, really seems to have one hell of a vendetta against mine truly, and I can't understand why for the life of me. He's just another human that seems to think of me as worth no more than the pelt on my back, and if even that.

"Yes, sir?" I ask, my armpits beginning to grow sore from hanging by the straps of my backpack. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Well, seeing as how you were just skulking around the school after all of the buses have left, well, I would certainly say that you definitely were- and still are- causing trouble. Besides, you're a fox, and as we all know, you pelts are good for nothing but that- pelts and trouble."

"But sir-" I protest, feeling my claws fighting my control. I want to fight him, I really do, but I can't, or I'm just going to prove the arrogant son of a vixen right, and then, well, I don't know, and I sure as flock don't ever want to find out the answer.

"But nothing, Mister Aspen," he says, "I don't want to hear it, now," he says, heaving me up by the straps of my backpack. "Get where you're going, and don't ever let me see you thieving around again, or I will have you on the next space shuttle bus back across the Bridge, and did you hear that we're at war with Terra? You won't survive that trip should you have to take it, Mister Aspen," he says, taking me and throwing me as hard as he can down the hallway.

Before my mind can even figure out what's happening so that it can react to it, I slam into the cold tile of the floor, paws slamming hard into the floor, muzzle ramming soon after. I blink away the tears and try to wipe the blood away, but before I can to that, the principal delivers a sharp kick to my ribs with his steel toes that makes me nearly black out. I curl myself up into a tight ball on the floor to protect myself from any more kicks that are going to come- three more do, each on making me whimper like a newborn kit.

"What makes you think that I would ever trust a fox, Theodore?" he asks? "They're good for no more than my pelt, and believe me, I'd love to see you gone, but sadly, I can't get rid of you. Oh-" he continues, "and if you ever tell anyone about this, well, they who do you think that everyone's going to believe, Theodore? I can tell you for sure right now that is isn't going to be you, and I'm more than willing to tell each and every single person who asks me about why you look like shit right about now is because you tried to go after me; that you tried to kill me and I had to defend myself. I've been working here for long enough, and you? You're the fox, the thief who no one trusts anyways, so it wouldn't take much for me to get all of you fucking freaks kicked out. Now," he says, spitting in my fur, "get the hell where you're going, and don't cause me any trouble. Got that?"

"Yes, sir," I manage to make my voice say.

"Good," he says, and I cower on the floor until I hear him leave.

After I'm sure he's gone, I force myself up, which takes several tries, and on shaking legs, I scurry to the bathroom, tail tucked just about as far between my legs as it's possible for it to go.

Flock, I look like scat, I think. I can already see bruises starting to form on my muzzle, and taking off my shirt, I can see huge welts starting to swell up.

Well, I think, I can't let them see me like this, and yet…. What choice does this tod have? This bull sh*t has gone on for too long, and I get the sneaking suspicion in the back of my mind that I'm most definitely not the only mammal or person that this asshat has beaten up on, and that need to end. Blood dripping from my snout be damned, I'm letting them know just exactly what just happened to me, and I'm going to do something.

No, scratch that, I'm not just going to do something about this scat, despite the pounding in my ribs, I have to do something.

Grabbing up the last snatches of my dignity and all of the last resistance to pain that I have left in my body, hanging on to the end of my tail and using it to mop up the red drops that keep running off off the end of my muzzle, I run down to the cafeteria as quickly as I can, although I manage to fall over my wobbling paws more times than I'd really like to admit.

When I finally reach the cafeteria, though, tail dripping red, heaving and wheezing, everyone stops and looks at me in shock.

"Theo, what the hell happened to you?" Ms. Neve exclaims, taking no care to hide her shock.

"Principal attacked me," I wheeze. "Call nine-one-one, I think my ribs are broken."

With that, my legs give out, and the world goes dark. When I wake up, it's on the top of one of the cafeteria tables, and the first thing that I notice, other than the fact that the pain in my ribs seems to have gone down somewhat, thank God, Karma, and the Celestials above.

"Oh, thank God," Ms. Neve says, coming over to me, and I see that she has pain and worry plastered on her face. "I thought for a while that we had lost you. Can you talk?"

I shake my head, not willing to dare forcing my ribs to move.

"We called the police, they came half an hour ago and took him away, the bastard, and the ambulance crew is waiting outside. They think that your ribs are just bruised, but it's not going to hurt to have an exam to check."

Noticing my look, with its question sitting right on its surface, she nods. "Yes, we told your parents, Theo, and they're going to meet us at the hospital, that's what they said."

Okay, I tell them, putting my fingers together to sign what I want to say. I guess then it's a good thing that took human sign language classes back on Terra as well before I came here to Earth. I wasn't expecting anything even close to this 'exciting' to happen, but it is what it is. I guess that the ones to look for, as my father said before that one fateful day- the one where he set off for war and never came back- the ones that anyone, either mammal or human, need to watch out for are the ones who try to either get on your good side immediately or try to knock you off.

In this case, I see that it was the second one. Oh, gods, I hurt like I've never hurt before….

I try to fight the pain back down, but I just can't do it, and tears start to stream down my cheeks, making the fur around them stained wet.

Thankfully, though, the ambulance comes no more than two minutes later, its red and white lights flashing back and forth outside and casting shadows opposite where the beams are.

Ms. Neve goes out to get them, explaining what happened to the ambulance crew, who load me onto the back of a stretcher, then counting off together, one, two, three, lift, they hoist me up, and I decide that now is as good of a time as any to give in to the pain, which has only managed to grow stronger and hotter, if that's even possible.

Well, I'm done, and flock this scat, world, I decide, and then the world goes dark.

When I wake up, I'm surrounded by doctors in blue outfits, and the bright fluorescent lights burn into the backs of my eyeballs. Thankfully, though, my ribs hurt less, although they still hurt enough so that I don't want to talk, at least, not yet.

"So," Ms. Neve says, looking at me, her look full of concern. "You have a pad and pencil next to you, Theo, and if you're feeling quite up to it, would you mind explaining what happened to you?"

Sure, I write. But it's a long story, and it's going to take a while. Don't worry, we have all day.

That's good, I write, and after confirming that Mrs. Neve has read it, begin to write. This could be interesting. Rule One, I write, no interrupting.

"Sounds fair," she says. "The floor is yours, Theo."


	4. Chapter Four: Growing (and Groaning) Pains

Chapter Four: Growing (and Groaning) Pains

So, I write, my pencil making scratching noises along the piece of paper than Ms. Neve gave me to write on, this afternoon, I was heading down the hallway past the principal's office, and-

"Whoa, stop right there, Theo. What day do you think it is right now?" Ms. Neve asks me, worry creasing her face.

"Umm... ," I say, and I start in surprise- my voice is back, which is great, but then why is everyone looking at me funny? It's only been a few hours, as far as I can tell, so then why am I getting so many concerned looks? As my mind tries to figure that out, a shadow of doubt suddenly come creeping along on over me. "It's Tuesday, which makes it the seventeenth of September, as far as I know…"

"Well, then, Theo, I hate to burst your bubble," Ms. Neve says, giving me a sad smile, "it's the twentieth. It's Friday, not Tuesday. You've been out for the last three days, and I can tell that your ribs are feeling better, which is certainly a plus."

"What? I don't believe you, it can't possibly have been three days, I mean, I've probably just healed, I have been known to be a quick healer, you know."

"No, that's not it at all, Theo," Mrs. Neve says, showing me her phone, which, sure enough, displays Friday, March 20 as the date. "And as for why your ribs feel better, well, you've been in and out of surgery four times to fix your broken ribs. Do you want to guess how many there were?"

"Umm… I'm not quite sure, Ms. Neve, but I can see in your eyes that you're going to tell me anyways, and just why the flock do I feel like I'm not going to like the answer?"

"Because you're not, Theo. Save for five, all of your ribs were broken. Had we not gotten you here as quickly as we managed to, then, Theo, and I hate to say this, but you wouldn't be here right now, talking to us right now."

"Well," I ask, feeling confused, "where would I be?"

No one answers my question, and I slowly start to feel realization sink in, drenching me in cold cold sweat. "You mean to say that I would be- I would be dead? I'm only fifteen years old, who the flock would want me dead, and what the flock for?"

"Apparently," Ms. Neve says, "our former, now jailbird, principal did, and don't ask me why, because I have no damn idea whatsoever. I do get the feeling, though, that he's going to claim that his medicine made him crazy and that he shouldn't be held accountable for the consequences of his actions for that very reason..."

"Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me in the slightest," I say feeling flecks of spit come flying out of my mouth as I do, "because who wants a flocking fox, right? As I was saying during lunch whenever I was last in school, whenever that was, nobody's ever going to accept us. We're freaks."

"On the contrary," Mrs. Neve says, giving me a smile that looks like it could power an entire city, "you're not, and in case you hadn't noticed, Theo, the door to this room is closed for a reason."

"Right," I say, "because otherwise, I would be overrun by people who want me dead."

"Actually, Theo," Ms. Neve says, smiling even more brightly than she was just a few seconds earlier, "you would be overrun not by spiteful mammals, young tod, but by well-wishers. In fact, I'm going to go let them in now, and they can say hello. That is," she says, "if you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind one bit," I say. "Please, I could use a little more joy in my life than there is, you know? I've had a rough time of it."

"I understand," she says, opening the worn wooden door to my room, which swings slowly on hinges that sound as if they haven't been oiled in several Earth years. No, scratch the think part of that statement right out, I know that they haven't been oiled in who knows how long, because there's not a single better way to drive a fox, or any other mammal with ears like mine, crazy, than to drill loud noises into our ears.

Thankfully, though, the auditory assault ends no more than a second later as the door slides open completely, its magnetic holder on the back clicking softly with the one on the wall of the hallway, and I can see that there are several people- humans and mammals both- waiting for me.

They file on into my room, taking seats in any place they can find save for my bed. I scan the assembled faces, and I notice than each and every single one of those faces wears a look of pained concern, which I'm more than willing to bet is directed toward me.

I look around, and I see the faces (and muzzles, for those that have them) of friends and family, all waiting to see how I'm doing.

I don't have the chance to tell them anything, though, as Alaina comes up to me and goes to wrap me in a hug, then seems to think better of it and tucks her paws in her pockets and gives me a smile instead.

"How are you holding up, Theo?" she asks, the worry in her smile more than evident. "I got here as soon as I heard, but you were in surgery by then, and, well, you've been in and out three more times for all the bleeding you were doing. I've been praying for you for the last three days, young man, and thank whoever's up there, whether it be God, Karma, or the Celestials that you came out of this alive. You're going to be here for another week or so, though, and we're going to need another principal."

"I'm holding up well, sis," I say, "and I hope you are too. I hear that I had everyone worried sick, but I have no idea why they'd care about a fox," I continue, winking so that everyone can see that I'm only having a laugh. "You know, Alaina, I love you like a sister."

"I know, Theo, " she says, giving me a peck on the cheek that elicits several soft 'awws' from the humans and mammals in the room. "I love you too, brother dear. Now, would you please stop doing this sort of scat, because you just keep scaring me witless, and some days I wonder how I manage to get them back."

"I don't know, Alaina, I just don't know. Can we get rid of xenocidal maniac of a principal, please? 'Cause I know that there's no way in flocking hell that I'm going to be going back to that school unless he's gone; no way, no how until he goes away to the can for good, the scumbag son of a vixen…. Thankfully, though, he didn't kill me, but from what I've been told, it was pretty flocking close."

"You're not kidding, Theo, not kidding at all. The paramedics got you into the ambulance, and they had to stick a tube down your throat to give you oxygen to make sure that you kept breathing, because there were several times, so the paramedics told me when I got here to the hospital, that it looked like you were going to go under, and that it looked for sure that you weren't going to come up," Ms. Neve says. "I'm ever thankful to whosoever might be up there in heaven that you've made it out alive."

"That we are," Papa says, coming in the doorway to join the rest, Mama close on his heels.

"Theo," Mama exclaims. "What happened to you? We have been in, but like I'm more than sure you've been told, you've been-a out for more than three days. We were-a afraid that you weren't going to make it."

"Don't you worry about that now, Mama," I say, giving her the best smile than I can manage, especially given that my whole body is starting to ache from the strain of fighting the sleep that wants to swallow me whole. "But I have to take a nap, now, okay?"

"Just as long as you can promise me that you'll wake up, you understand, young man?"

"Yes, Mama," I mumble, and let the black tide that's starting to swim around the edges of my vision take me whole, and I pass out.

This time, though, the darkness is not entirely black, and I can't quite say whether that's a blessing and a curse, because although the world has gone dark, dreams start do filter slowly behind my closed eyelids, but they seem to be more like memories that evolve into dreams: my first loose tooth, for example, which becomes me chatting up the tooth fairy (who then turns into my mother, the biological one, that is, who starts scolding me for staying up too late.

I yell at her to shut up, and the dream then morphs into another memory, one of me getting the highest score on a test when I was in third grade. I see myself as a little kit, feeling so, so, so pound of myself. I feel overjoyed when the teacher, a wolf by the name of Ms. Latenna, calls me up to the front of the class, like I remember her doing with the kids who got the highest scores on tests, and then she would give them a small prize or something like that.

However, when she calls me up, she points straight at me, and instead of giving me a small piece of chocolate like usual, she hands me a rotten apple. "This, Theo," she says, "is for getting the lowest score on the test. I gasp in shock and look down at my test, which, instead of having a bright red A-plus on it like it did when I got up from my seat, I see that it has an even brighter F-double minus on it, and when I hang my head in embarrassment, I have the dream that every mammal dreads- a dream in which they're standing in front of their entire class without any clothes on.

Embarrassed, I tuck my tail around my legs and run to the back of the room. I try to hide, but it's no use- the points of all of my fellow students follow me, laughing like madmammals.

I run out of the classroom, teardrops streaming down my face, and then I find myself in the hallway, and it isn't in my school on Terra. No, it's the scene that put me here- in front of the former principal- and the same scenario plays itself out again.

As I fly through the air, I scream, and as I hit the ground, I jerk upright, wide awake and still screaming.

I look around, eyes as wide open as it's possible for them to be, and thankfully, oh, thank God and Karma that I'm in the real world instead of the terror that has become my dreams.

I mean, at least I think that this is the real life, and not just another fantasy. In order to be sure, I tap a nervous paw on the rails of my bed, feeling it to make sure that it's real. Thankfully, it seems to be, and so I take a deep breath in through my nose and let it out slowly through my mouth, like I taught myself to do before I made the journey here to Earth, and I repeat the process for a few minutes in order to be completely sure that my nerves aren't fried completely.

Once I'm absolutely and completely sure that I'm awake and alive, if not exactly entirely enthusiastic, I take a look around the room, and I see all of the terrified faces of the humans and mammals who have come in to visit me, all of them waiting to see what's going to happen, each and every single one of those faces concerned for my safety, and well, I can't help but hope that I'll be able to keep in touch with them when my exchange ends, because it's these people who have helped me survive in this new world, and I mean that about as literally as I can.

"Is everything okay, Theo?" Jenna asks, coming over to sit next to me, silver fur shining in the sunlight that's still streaming in through the window, although it seems to have grown brighter. If I had to guess, it's about mid-day, which Jenna confirms.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Jenna," I say, trying to smile but finding that it hurts. "I just had a nightmare, that's all."

"That's good," she says, returning my smile with a million-watt one of her own. "You scared the scat out of most of us here when you screamed, and I think that the nurses are probably wondering what's going on themselves," she says, gesturing with a sweep of her paw towards the door and hallway, where there are two nurses in light blue scrubs waiting outside, waiting for an okay, as far as I can tell.

"It's safe to come in," I tell them. "Don't worry, I'm okay, I just had a nightmare," I say, hoping that the concerned atmosphere that's floating around everyone here will go away. I've never had this much attention all to myself before, and while it's nice to know that there are people and mammals in the world who are all looking out for me and my well-being, I don't like being worried about. I have a mother back on Terra who's like that, and if I'm being completely honest, it's more than I can handle; it doesn't help that that's almost exactly what's going on here.

"That's good to hear," says the first nurse, a slim woman with a swirl of silver in her brown hair, which is pinned into a bun behind her head. "I'm Nurse Proctor, the supervisor on this floor. All three of us have actually been in several times, but as I'm sure that you've been told, you were quite out of it."

"Yes," I say, "I have. But really, I'm okay, it was just a nightmare."

"Theo," the second nurse, Nurse Jensen, judging from the white plastic name badge that's clipped to her scrubs top on an elastic cord, "have you ever been in a hospital before?"

"No, ma'am," I say, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment that I can't still quite seem to understand. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering, Theo, that's all. I want to let you know that it's our jobs to keep you as safe as you can be, and we're just trying to check in, no worries."

"I'm glad, Ms. Jensen," I say, pulling the thin hospital blankets off of me, and try to push myself up. As I do, two hot lances of pain shoot down my ribs, one on each side, and I gasp in shock, sinking back down onto and into the bed. "Ow…" I groan. "Flock, that hurt!"

"That's what having most of your ribs broken will do to a person, or should I say a mammal?" she asks, her smile creased with concern. "You're healing rather nicely, Theo, but I wouldn't try to get up again for another day or two, alright? I'm sure that you've heard that you're a fast healer, but please, don't try to get up. You have a tube attached in case you need to go to the bathroom, and don't go passing out on us again, please? I like you, and I don't want to see you getting hurt again. I have to go now, but when I get back, would you mind telling me some things about you? I've never met a mammal, you see…"

"Not a problem," I say, smiling.

"That's great!" she replies, then heads back out of my room and into the hallway, winking at me as the door slowly swings back shut, miraculously not screeching this time around.

As soon as she's left the room and the door clicks shut, Mama looks straight into my eyes. "What happened to-a you?" she asks, her accent slipping through, which means that she's pretty nervous, because I've come to learn that she hates it, because everybody mocks her for it.

"Well, Mama," I say, "the principal, who is the principal of our school no longer, well, he decided that it was his duty to beat the scat-stuffing out of me, all because I'm a fox. Don't ask me what the flock his reasoning was, because it makes not a single lick of sense to me. Does it make any sense to any one of you?"

"NO!" everyone shouts in unison, so loudly, in fact, that I nearly jump right out of my bed.

"Whoa, sorry about that," Isaac says, blushing red hot. "I didn't realize that I was so loud."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Theo," Isaac says, and after that, everyone starts apologizing on top of each other, and it builds faster for about ten seconds, then bubbles out, and slowly, everyone goes quiet.

"So, Theo, my son," Papa says, giving me a smile that still shows concern, yet in his look, I can also see a few small flecks of happiness, "what happened in school earlier this week?"

"Well," I begin, feeling cautious at first, but then the story starts to spill out of me, like a wine barrel that's lost its stopper. "I was late getting to the bus, and I found myself standing right by the principal's office, and….," I continue, and fifteen minutes later, the entire tale of that altercation is told, from the point where I came up from class late to where I ran into the principal, then to where I found myself flying, and all the way up to now."

"Shit…," Jenna whispers, just barely loud enough for my ears to pick up. "That bastard. It makes me want to go chew his head off, and I'm not talking about the figurative kind of chewing one's head off, either."

"Jenna!" Ms. Neve exclaims, shock evident in the creases of her face. "What have I told you about language?"

"I don't care right about now, Mama!" Jenna says, her teeth on full display and hackles raised in anger. "One of my only friends was just beaten to within a few hairs' breadth of his life, and you expect me to restrain my tongue? I'm sorry, Mama, but I won't, and what's more? I can't do that, I just can't, not seeing Theo like this."

"I understand, sweetheart, but please, try. We don't need people thinking that we're animals."

Jenna huffs in frustration, and Ms. Neve shakes her head, having realized that she's misspoken.

"Sweetheart," she says, "you know what I meant. I didn't mean it like that."

"I know, Mom," she says, but I'm feeling awfully flocking ticked off right now. I don't know if you can tell, but my emotions are riding about as they can without me being mistaken for a rabid fox, and I'm really feeling ready to give in to that anger, especially after seeing how Theo looks, so, Mom, I hope that you'll willing to understand that, at least."

"Don't worry, Jenna," Mrs. Neve says, stroking the fur behind Jenna's ears, and Jenna sighs, tail going from stuck straight out behind her in furious agitation to wagging slightly in contentment.

"I know, Mom, I'm not," she says, sighing and gesturing with a sweep of her right paw to our surroundings, which, upon inspection, are quite possibly the dullest surroundings that I've ever been in, although that's not exactly saying much, considering how much of my school back on Terra, Barkham Olding High, was almost exactly the same, from the cracked linoleum tiles on the floor to the pea-green and mud-brown walls to the smeary glass of the window, which thankfully, looks to be just the glass and not grime on the glass, "It's just that it's not fair is all. Why can't humans and mammals just get along?"

"An excellent question, Jenna, and I have not a single fricking clue how I should answer it, not a single clue at all." She pauses for a second, putting a finger to her chin in thought, and after what seems like an eternity, but in reality is probably more like fifteen or twenty seconds, she speaks.

"Actually," she says, tapping that same finger on the end of her chin, "I do have an idea…"

"Oh?" I ask, intrigued. "And just what might that be, Mrs, Neve?"

"Well, Theo," she says, "do you remember what we were talking about your last day in school?"

"Yes, Mrs. Neve," I say, "I do. I remember you talking about how we couldn't get along because people were too put off by the teeth and claws, but to me, well, that just seem like a good enough reason to ignore us sentient mammals and treat us like- if you'll pardon my language- shit. I mean, if you think about it, we're the same as humans- primitive mammals that evolved to sentience, just the difference being that it was what I've heard humans call 'primitive' creatures that evolved on the Terran side of the Bridge instead of the apes like on the Earth side, who gave rise to the humans."

"That's right," she says, drumming her fingers along the armrest of the old wooden chair that she's now sitting in by the window, the tap-tap-tap pattern that they're making repeating every few seconds, and do you remember talking about a few ideas that we could use to try to persuade the students at school to the effect that we weren't all bloodthirsty savages."

"Yeah," I laugh, and then groan as two more lances of pain flash down my sides, only this time, they're not as painful as the last two- only very painful instead of 'oh, dear God and Karma, let me die' painful like the last time that same flash of pain happened, thank goodness. You said that the maniac's gone to jail?" I ask, coughing as a spasm of pain passes through my ribs, and then is gone as soon as it arrived, leaving me gasping for breath.

"It's okay, everyone," I say, it's just that my ribs are hurting, that's all. I'm sure that you all understand, and please, everyone, quit standing around. Grab yourselves chairs, make yourselves comfortable. I'm fine, and it's going it be a long, long while until I can get out of here- at least a week, and that's if I manage to heal faster than I ever have before. Even being me has its limits, which, to be totally honest, is annoying, but that is the way it is, always has been, and is always going to be."

"I hear you, Theo," Isaac says, piping up for the first time, cream-tipped tail flicking in greeting. "That was probably one of the most terrifying experiences that I've had in my entire life. Dude," he says, giving my paw a nervous squeeze," I thought you were dead. I-I…" he stammers, trailing off. "Don't do that again, okay?"

"I couldn't exactly help it, Isaac," I say, giving him a small smile and laugh. "Thanks for the concern, though, and can we please talk about something else?"

"Sure, but what else is there to talk about, exactly? I mean, there's not exactly any variety in hospital rooms, unless, of course, you like talking about the several different shades of green and brown that have been used to decorate the walls of all of the rooms in this place? There are more than I ever thought possible, and I think that the only place I've seen any other color was in the library. Speaking of that, I saw a good book in the library, do you want me to bring it for you?"

"What was it called?" I ask. "If it's something that I've read already, then no, but if I haven't read it already, then sure, I don't mind."

"Um... Theo," he says, laughing softly, "I have no idea what you've read, you've never told me anything about your reading habits, and besides, I've only known you for the last week, I wouldn't exactly say that that's enough time to learn every little thing about you…"

"I suppose not," I laugh, feeling the skin on my face heat up under my fur, and I duck my ears, knowing I'm blushing and hating it. "What did you see in the library that you thought looked interesting?"

"Well," he says, pulling a pad of paper out of the left pocket of her shorts and skimming down the list. "I saw a bunch of what I know the humans call 'classics of literature,' whatever that means- Catch-22, which is about one of the human wars eons and eons ago; Paper Towns, which is about a boy trying to unravel the disappearance of his friend Margo, which I've read and think is awesome, and last but not least, one of my absolute favorites- another human classic."

"Oh?" I ask, intrigued. "What's it called?"

"It's called A Man Called Ove," he says, "and this one particular novel might be my very favorite. I spend most of my time reading, and I have to say that this particular novel has been one that I will happily read and reread several times."

"What's it about?" I ask, interest piqued at the prospect of being able to have a few books to read, along with the company that I already have, because, as I said, they're not going to want to stand around here forever, and if I'm being completely honest, I don't think that I really want them, either- not that I don't want them around, but how is it fair of me to ask them to give up all of that time for me? I don't matter that much, do I?

Plain and simple, no, no I don't, but it is still nice having some people worry for my health and safety.

"A grumpy old human man learning why life is so valuable," he says. "As I said, it's wonderful, and the others, well, I'll leave the discovery to you."

"So which one should I read first, Isaac?" I ask. "What's the best of the best of the books that you've picked?" I ask, hoping that he'll pick one for me, I've never exactly been good at picking out what I should read; I always want to read them all.

"Well," he says, tapping the cover of the thin paperback that shows an older human man with his back facing the front, along with a small cat by his feet- a Siamese, if I remember my cat breeds correctly. I read the cover- A Man Called Ove, it reads, by Frederik Backman. "I would recommend that you start with this one. As I said, it's probably one of the best books that I've ever read, and no, Theo, it's not going to bore you to pieces. Of course, I don't know if it's possible to actually bored to pieces, but as I'm sure that you can figure out on your own, I'm not willing to do that for you."

'That's nice to hear, Isaac," I say, "because I'm sure that this hospital visit will do it for me once I'm done reading all of these books."

"Yeah, well, Theo, like you said," he laughs, "Human- English, in this case- isn't your first language, so you'd better hope that there aren't too many…"

"No kidding. I can speak it, but some of the spellings still are out of my reach. If I have any troubles, Isaac, I'll make sure to let you know."

"That's great, Theo!" he says, going to give me a leaping hug, but then he stops himself.

"Yeah, probably not a good idea if I do that, now is it, Theo, jump on you to give you a hug?" he asks, the edges of his mouth drooping into a frown as he does. "Dumb howler that I am, I can't seem to think before I act, now can I?

"Sorry, Theo," he says, his tail drooping down between his legs like I've seen a dog do when its human kicks it in anger, "but I'm kinda stupid, in case you hadn't noticed already."

"Yeah, you are," I say, poking fun in reference to the jokes the four of us- me, Jenna, Isaac, and Alaina- were making at our own expenses the day I got beat to scat and turned into a bloody pulp.

"Theo!" Mama cries. "How dare you be so rude, and to such a fine young gentlemammal?"

"It's okay, Mrs. Maranza," Isaac says, putting a soothing paw on her shoulder. "It's a running joke that the four of us have going."

"Oh," Mama says, the air going out of her like a balloon that's suddenly sprung a leak. "I see. And here I was thinking that you were being a speciesist pain in the tail, Theo, which is what surprised me."

"No, Mama," I say, giving her the three-fingered salute that I've seen other mammals use when they're swearing that they've been honest. "I'm not."

She laughs, then says, "That's good to know, my young tod, very good to know indeed. Are you doing better? I would certainly say you are, based on how chipper you look, but I want to hear the answer to my question straight from you, you understand?"

"Yes, Mama, of course I understand, so would you let me speak please?"

By way of and answer, she nods, and so I begin. "Last time I was at school- Tuesday- the four of us- me, Jenna, Isaac, and Alaina, went up to Ms. Neve's room to talk. All of us were feeling rather steamed, that much was more than clear, and I know that, at least in my case, there were a few things that I wanted to get off of my chest by the end of the day, because I didn't want to have that weight swinging over my head like the Sword of Damocles."

"Just how, Theo," Ms. Neve asks me, "do you know so many little things about human literature?"

"I didn't learn that back on Terra, Ms. Neve," I tell her, "I learned that term here when I was practicing some English. I can't remember what the book that I was reading at the time was called, exactly, but I remember that the main character, whenever they were particularly stressed about something, or if they felt like the world was going after them- kinda like I do right about now, actually- they would look up and see an enormous sword swinging over their heads, suspended by a rope whose threads were slowly snapping apart one by one. Eventually, as I'm sure you can probably deduce on your own, the final cords in the rope would snap apart and the sword would fall. Can you guess what that would do?" I say, grinning sarcastically.

"Yes, I can, Theo, and feeling like that must be awful," Mama says, smiling sadly.

"You're absolutely right, Mama," I say, "it does feel awful to have that black cloud hovering over one's head, which is exactly why I decided that I didn't want to leave it there. I started poking fun at how horribly I was doing in school and how because I was a fox, I couldn't possibly have been trusted. Of course, I had no idea that that would come to be a bit prescient at the time; isn't it funny how things just so happen to work out like that?

"Anyways, I started complaining half-heartedly, moaning about how it was awful to be a fox, because who could possibly trust me, I'm an animal! So anyways, everybody started pitching in, Mrs. Neve and Tony included, and we decided that we were going to try to mock each other, all in good fun, of course; have a few pokes at how humans just don't trust us, and they don't for reasons that make no sense to us, or if they do, they don't make much.

"So anyways, Mama," I continue, "we had decided to turn this conversation that we were having amongst ourselves into a presentation of sorts- a skit, to be exact- that we were going to then present in front of the school. After we had come up with a decent plan, I went to go get my books and the various other things that I was going to need in order to work on the project that we have- had, I'm not sure whether I'm still going to have to do it- to do. After putting my things in my backpack, I remember that I made sure that the locker was shut tightly and completely locked, I remember going back downstairs, where I ran into the principal, and then, well, the chain of events that put me here began. I only remember bits and pieces, little random fragments after than until this morning- it is still the same day, right? I haven't woken up from having passed out for about half of a week again, have I?"

"No, Theo," Mrs. Neve says, "you haven't woken up from having passed out for over three days again. It is still the same day as it was earlier, scout's honor," she says, putting her own right hand up in an imitation of me. "I promise."

"That," I sigh, "is good to hear. But anyways, back to the story. I had just gotten nearly all of my ribs kicked in by a deranged and very likely xenocidal human who had apparently decided that, because I was walking around in the school and the lights down by the office and that end of the building had been turned off for the night that I was skulking around the building; that because I was a fox, that there was no way whatsoever that he was going to trust me. He then decided that, like the same mammal that threw me across the cafeteria on my first day (and no, Tony, I'm not still mad at you for that), I would make a wonderful flying fox, and that, once I landed, I would be better off with all of my ribs broken.

"Thankfully," I continue, letting out a huff of air that feels as if it's been stagnating in my lungs for longer than I've been alive, "he didn't succeed. As I've been told, four of my ribs weren't broken, which is great, and oh!" I exclaim, a sudden thought deciding to pop itself to the forefront of my mind- "The son of a bitch, no using animal expletives to get around cursing this time, he's going to jail, and I hope that the mother fluffer never gets the right to ever see the light of day again."

"I'll pray for that," Mama says, face breaking into a grin, "and you know I will. Anybody who tries to hurt my two, be they from me or not, they're going to find out what it feels like to suffer the wrath of Elena Maranza, and hear you me, they're not going to like it, oh, no, and boy oh bo-oy will they regret it!"

"Thanks, Mama," I say. "Does anybody have any other news that they'd like to share?"

"Well, from what I've heard, the news of what's happened to you has managed to spead itself like wildfire around the district, and now, your fellow students are staging walkouts in protest. Add to that the news crews that have been swarming the area, and well, I think that you'e going to find yourself having become quite the media sensation by the time you get the flock out of here…," she says, tapping her foot nervously. "And I know how you hate attention like that…"

"Yeah, well, Mama," I sigh, "it is what it is, and complaining about it's going to help no one at all, and I know that it's just going to make the nurses rather ticked off at me."

"You bet it will," says the first blue-clad nurse. "You have no idea how much bull that we have to deal with each and every single day. It's almost as it the patients that we;re taking care of don't don't even notice that we're here or even care that we are."

"I feel awful for you," I say, "and that's exactly why I'm going to be better than that. "Although, like I've said, the company is certainly helpful when it comes to keeping my emotions and the frayed nerves that I have under control."

"That's good to hear, Theo," she says, "but, and I hate to have to tell you, there's a thunderstorm rolling in from the west, from over near the Great Lakes."

"Oh," I say, feeling the air go out of me, too. "When's it coming?"

"From what the weather forecast that I was reading off of the Web said, it should be here in about ten to fifteen minutes. Are you afraid of thunderstorms?"

"Absolutely," I say. "I got caught outside in one when I was a kit back on Terra- I went out to pick bat berries, which are a fruit that are kind of a reddish-purple tint, almost like a cross between the currants and blueberries that I've seen here on Earth. Anyways, I was off from school for the summer- I think it was the middle of July, if I remember correctly, and a thunderstorm decided that it wanted to come rolling right on in, despite the weather forecasters' predictions that morning having stated that it was going to be hot and humid and rather sunny, so when I went outside, all I had with me was a bucket for the berries, nothing else, no jacket, not a single way to to keep myself dry.

"So I go outside," I say, "completely oblivious to the fact that I'm going to get drenched, when it starts to rain- only a few soft drops splatting against my fur at first; just enough so that I had thought that I had managed to brush some of the morning's dew into the fur on my back, because I was crawling down under the trees and the sun wasn't yet high enough in the sky to have dried it up. Turns out I was so wrong on both counts, because it wasn't the dew dripping off of the berry bushes that I had been feeling drip-dropping into my fur, oh no. I looked up over my head to see huge rain clouds come in over my lawn, heavy and as black as the midnight sky.

I remember dropping my bucket behind me as I ran for the door, the drops of rain already starting to come down hard, and the wind, although it had just barely began to blow, was already sheeting at my fur and sopping it wet.

Now, that isn't why I'm afraid of storms, that is because as soon as I had reached the back door, I tried the knob, and can you guess what happened then?" I ask.

"I think that I've got an idea," Mama says, pulling at the silver barrette that she uses to keep her messy hair not so messy.

"And what idea is that, Mama?"

"Did you find that the door was locked, Theo? Because that's my guess."

"Ding! Ding!" I say. "And the prize goes to the woman in the yellow pullover!" Then I take a breath and calm myself down. "Yes, Mama, that's exactly what happened. The rest of my family- my mom and dad, plus my younger brother and younger sister had gone out to the market to get some nice fresh vegetables for the evening's dinner- yes, we foxes like our vegetables, too- and they had locked the door, it having somehow completely slipped their minds that taking both of the copies of the key to the house with them when they went was not a good idea, because I was outside, yet somehow, some way, they did.

"So here I am," I continue, feeling chills wash their ways through me as I recall the story and listen to the thunder begin to boom outside in the real world, "a kit, no more than nine years old, and my parents have somehow managed to lock me outside, and there's a thunderstorm on the way in.

"Five minutes later, here comes the storm in its entirety- wind howling, lightning flashing, the booms of thunder echoing in the backs of my ears," I say, shivering harder this time. This time around, it's Alaina who notices, telling me, "Theo, you know that it's okay if you don't want to keep talking about this, you know that right?"

"Yes, Alaina," I sigh, feeling another involuntary shiver rack through my body, "I do understand, and I really, really appreciate you taking care of me like that, sis, but-"

As I go to continue, I'm cut off as Alaina leans in to give me a wet lick on my cheek, and I start in surprise, as does nearly every other person in the room, both human and mammal. I go to protest, but then she does it again, this time to my other cheek, and I realize that she's just claimed me. Not like a mate would for another, but like family does for another, and before I can stop myself, I return the favor, giving each of Alaina's cheeks a lick of my own, and then we both stop ourselves with our paws over our own muzzles, each of us equally surprised at what we've just done. No, we haven't claimed each other as mates, that would just be weird, but what we have done is pretty much told everyone in the room that we're family, with a bond that is as strong, if not stronger than blood. I don't know why I did it, but there's not a single person in this room who's going to see me arguing with Alaina having marked me like that and I having returned the favor.

Then again, I have no idea how many people, either humans or mammals, will have understood what just happened. I can see that Isaac and Jenna do, but the rest of them seem to just be looking at us in surprise. I wait for someone to ask, and it takes less than a fraction of a second after both of us clamp our muzzles in surprise for her to ask that very question.

"What was that?" she asks, a look of bewilderment clear on her face. "Was that you two 'claiming' each other?"

At that, both of our faces light up bright red in blushes, and we share a look between ourselves that shares much of the same embarrassment.

"Um," I manage to spit out, "yes and no, not 'that way'," I say, and as I do, I feel my face go even redder, lthough I doubt anybody can see it through the red of my fur, save for maybe a little bit through the cram patches on my cheeks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jenna asks. "I don't quite understand what you mean there, Theo."

"Yeah, me neither, Theo," Isaac says. "Looks like you were claiming her that way to me…"

At that pronouncement, Mrs. Neve smacks him behind the ears, and he winces.

"Ow, mom!" he exclaims. "What in the world was that for?"

"You know very well what that was for, young man," Mrs. Neve says. "Now apologize to Alaina, now."

"Yes, Mama," he says, then looks at Alaina. "I'm sorry, Alaina," he says. "I didn't think-"

"That's right, you didn't think!" his mother says, and goes to give him another smack behind the ears when I say "Stop!"

"Um, I'm sorry," I say, realizing that I was too loud, "but Mrs. Neve, he didn't do enough to deserve two whacks. One hurts enough, believe me," I say, putting a paw behind my ears and feeling them sting with the memory of my teacher's cane whenever he thought I was misbehaving, "so please, leave him be, and although you may not like it, Isaac, "your mom's right. Just blurting out whatever I thought was what got me in trouble most of the times that I was."

"Alright," Isaac says, his white-tipped tail beginning to curl around his legs in shame and embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Theo, and I'm really sorry, Alaina."

"You're forgiven, Isaac," Alaina says, "but you were right about some of what you said, at least. Yes, Theo and I did claim each other, but not as mates, goodness no. We love each other, but as brother and sister, not as mates."

"I see," Isaac says, his tail slowly beginning to unwind its way from around his legs and finally coming back up to stick out softly behind him. "But I thought that you two said that neither of you were related to the other…?"

"We're not," Alaina says, putting a paw on my left shoulder, which, although it twinges somewhat when my body feels the soft touch of her paw, doesn't complain any more than that. "What we are," she continues, "is a pair of mammals who met each other at the lowest points in their respective lives- me, when my mother died giving birth to my younger brother, James, and for Theo, that was probably the worst week of his life, because it had just so happened that earlier that week- the morning of two days prior, a Terran soldier came to his home to inform both he and his mother that his father, his mother's mate and husband, also a government soldier, had been killed in a skirmish on the Bridge.

"Plain and simple," she continues, "save for all of you here, we're pretty much the only family that the other has left."

"Oh," Isaac says. "I see. I was just wondering, that's all, because it struck me as odd, that's all, that two completely unrelated mammals would do such a thing to the other."

"I can appreciate that," I say, smiling. "Anything else that you'd like to know about either Alaina or I that maybe we could share with you and help you to sate your curiosity, although it kinda seems like there's neither and end or bottom to the questions you're going to ask…"

"What can I say?" Isaac laughs, "I'm a curious mammal, and being out into the wider world for the first times in, like, ever, and that doesn't help much of anything. I mean, I'm still fighting to keep my nose from twitching like crazy...:."

"Oh, Isaac," I laugh, "don't worry about it anymore. I know what I said a while ago, but I can tell that it doesn't really matter. Be you- that's Isaac Neve, not Theodore Aspen. If you want to let your nose go sniffing at smells, then by God and Karma, you go right ahead, and the mammals who say that you're doing something wrong can go flock themselves!"

"That's nice to hear, Theo," he says, and I will." As he finishes, his nose begins to twitch, catching all the smells that I'm sure Isaac has been fighting to ignore for the last week.

"Dang," he says, "that actually feels kinda weird now, after having been fighting so hard to keep it still."

"I take it that you mean the twitching of your nose?"

"Yeah," he says, laughing, "that's exactly it. Speaking of that, Theo, why doesn't your nose just go twitching whenever you smell something that your nose seems to enjoy?"

"No, actually," I say, "I haven't, and I think that's because I got it drilled out of my thick skull back when I was still in the basic training programs that would allow me to become a Venturer."

"Well then, Theo," Isaac says, laughing, "you should follow your own advice and try it sometime. Let your nose go wild, see what you smell."

"Oh-kay…," I say, but I just know that this isn't going to be normal…"

"Ah, who cares?" he asks. "Just relax, and then take a deep breath. It'll happen, I promise."

I do as he suggests, taking a deep breath to relax, then I will my nose to smell what it can. Sure enough, it starts twitching, and I almost try to stop it several times, but eventually, I manage to relax, and then I feel it start to twitch again, slowly at first, but then it steadily picks up speed until speed, twitching faster and faster until it matches the speed at which Isaac's is moving.

"Smell anything yet, Theo?" he asks.

"Nothing yet," I say. "Are you sure that this is going to work?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure, Theo, because I know that it's working for me. Try taking another deep breath in, but make sure that it's through your nose. Go on, try it," he urges.

"Okay," I say, taking a deep breath in through my snout, letting the air pass in through my nose, and then I pause, letting my brain take in all of the scents that it can pick up, although the heavy damper scent of alcohol covers a large part of their strength. Taking another breath, I will my nose to search for the scents beneath the alcohol, and, nose twitching again, I pick up a few scents that I recognize- those of all the people around me, but beneath those, I can pick out some other scent, and from what it is, I don't think that I should say anything, because I think that they'd freak out if I told them, but I think that Mama has a bun in the oven, as the expression goes.

Yeah, I really, really, really should say anything to her about that, that's not appropriate, so I've learned.

Shaking my head to clear away those thoughts, I turn back to Isaac, his sea-blue eyes staring at me with a look of shock and wonder buried in their depths. "You all okay there, Theo?" he asks me. "You looked a little bit lost in space there, Theo. Did you catch anything?" he questions again. "Smell-wise, I mean?"

"Yeah, I did," I say, and with the look I give him, I say but I'm not telling you what.

"Alright, Theo, alright, I'll ask a different question, then," he says, putting his paws up placatingly. "What made you decide to become a Venturer? I've been wondering ever since I've met both of you, and I've not had the chance until now to ask. I hope you don't mind," he says, his left paw going up to tuck behind his ears in embarrassment, which, like my own embarrassment, I can't seem to understand.

"Before I answer your question, Isaac, and I will answer it, I have a question of my own for you, if you wouldn't mind giving me an answer to it."

"I'll do my best," he says, "but remember," he says, flopping his paws like a dog would again, "I'm just a dumb wolf, I no noez much."

"Very funny, Isaac," I laugh. "So is that a yes or a no to my request?"

"It's a yes," he says, "of course. What's the question?"

"Why," I ask, "do you tuck your paw behind your ears like that whenever you're embarrassed? I'm not trying to judge," I say, "I swear. "I'm just curious, that's all."

"That's fine," he says, "and to answer your question, Theo, quite honestly I have no idea whatsoever, it's just what my paw does if I'm feeling embarrassed by something, whether I want it to or nor, it just does, and most of the time, if you can believe it, it embarrasses me that by body is acting like a dumb wolf even though I'm not stupid at all.

"Of course, though," he continues, growling slightly, "nobody evers to think otherwise, which makes it all the more annoying, because in those moments, I feel like it's my body controlling me, instead of the other way around."

Pausing for a second, he lets out a long breath, his nostrils flaring as the air rushes past them. "Does that answer your question as wel as you had hoped that it would, Theo?" he asks.

"Yeah, it does, Isaac," I say. "What was your question again?" I ask, what he wanted to ask me having completely slipped my mind, of course.

"Why did you decide to become a Venturer, Theo" he inquites, ears perking in curiosity. Before I can answer, though, Mama cuts me off.

"Sorry to interrupt the conversation," she says, "but all of us parents are going to be in the cafeteria to get ourselves some breakfast, would you like me to get you four anything?"

"No thank you, Mrs. Maranza," Isaac says, and Jenna echoes his sentiment.

"No thanks, Mrs. M," she says, "I'm not hungry, although I certainly wouldn't mind a bottle of water, if you wouldn't mind."

"No, Jenna, of course I wouldn't mind," Mama exclaims. "Why on God and Karma's green Earth would I mind?"

"I don't know," Jenna says. "I was just trying to be respectful, Mrs. Maranza."

"I can understand that," Jenna, she says, "and I respect that, but remember that I'm not ever going to mind if one of you wants to ask me a question, okay?"

"Okay," Jenna says, smiling. "I'm glad to hear that, but yes, I would like a bottle of water, and Isaac, are you sure that you don't want one?"

"On second thought," he says, tapping his claws on his leg, "I would love a bottle of water, I just realized how thirsty I am."

"Okay then," Mama says turning to go, and I realize that they've forgotten me.

"Hey, wait," I say, trying to get someone's attention. "What about me? I'm drying up here, can't I have anything to drink?"

"I'm sorry, Theo," Mrs. Neve says, looking at me with a tinge of sadness in her eyes, "the doctors have you NPO until tomorrow at the earliest."

"What the flock is that supposed to mean?" I ask, confused. "I'm thirsty," I say, biting back the whine I feel welling up in the back of my throat, fighting to break free. Instread of letting it go, though, I stuff it back down my throat and look at her, knowing I probably look pathetic; a kicked dog, like Isaac was saying no more than five minutes earlier.

"It stands for 'nothing per oral,' Theo," Mrs. Neve says, her face showing me an even sadder version of the look that she was just giving me. "In other words, it means you can't have anything to eat or drink until the doctors come back in and say you can, and considering that they think that you might have to go back in for another surgery, I think that it's going to be at least another two days until you're cleared. However," she continues, "the nurses did say that you could use this sponge thing to take little swallowfuls of water until then, okay?"

"Just how is that fair?" I ask, stuffing the whine back down my throat as it threatens to rise up again. "I'm thirsty…"

"And I can't help you there, Theo," Mrs. Neve says, smiling sadly. "I'm not one to break any orders that I've been given by doctors," she says, walking out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

Before I can complain, all three of my mammal companions put their paws on my shoulders, and I sigh, feeling some of the stress of the morning rush out of me, leaving me somewhat drained.

"So, Theo," Jenna says, lifting something off of the floor and handing it over the bed to me, "I got you this- it's a human newspaper from the newsstand that's in the cafeteria. I thought you might want to have something to read, but also, I thought that you might want to see what the front page headline says, it looks like it could be rather important for, well, for all of us, but for both you and Alaina especially."

"What do you mean, Jenna?" I ask. "Why would it be a threat to us in particular?"

"Why don't you open that newspaper up and see for yourself?" she says, tail flicking nervously behind her, ears pressed flat against the top of her head, and I can see the fear in the backs of her eyes.

Feeling a cold fist of ice and fear settle its way into my stomach, I unfold the paper, and as I do, I see the headline that gives me the reason why:

"WAR!" it reads. I keep reading, feeling the fist of fear clench around my middle and slowly tighten as I skim down the lines.

The United Nations of Earth Security Council, composed of the Chinese Federation, the United States of North America, and the Russian Union, recently announced the Council's decision, in light of the recent Terran attacks on Earth armed forces bases at Pearl Harbor, London, and Moscow, to declare war in retaliation for such offenses. The One Hundred Thirty-First Airborne Unit of the Space Force, under the command of Major General Miguel Farthing, mobilized this morning at approximately 1:48 PM Greenwich Meridian Time and is currently en route to Terra.

The Council, as well as the remainder of the delegates to the United Nations, approved such actions. War against Terra was also approved by a vote of 219-7, with none abstaining.

When asked why the decision was made to choose an immediate declaration of war in place of attempted negotiation, the head of the Council, Master General James Jayce, declined to comment.

However, Council Vice President John Marterezco told one of our reporters, Michael Mathewson, that he harbored hopes that the Terrans could be shown sense within the week and that the pervading border skirmishes between the Two Worlds could be finally put to rest; put to rest six feet under and left there for the rest of time.

Unfortunately for this reporter, he was unable to receive further comment from any other governmental officials from any delegation.

For the Associated Press, this has been Marlena Thompson reporting. Friday, September 20.

"Um…," I stammer, feeling a wave of nausea come rolling over me like a tide at the news. "I think I'm gonna be sick…."

Mrs. Neve rushes over with the room's only trash can just barely in time to catch the foam of vomit that's starting to bubble out of the end of my muzzle, and as soon as she does, my stomach gives one enormous heave, wrenching each and every single last bit of nothing that's left in my stomach, and as it heaves another time, I can feel the acid burn the back of my throat, and I feel the whimper that I had stuffed down the back of my throat just a few minutes ago slip up again, and this time, I just can't fight it. It slips out, a pitiful sound that I just know is going to make me seem even more pathetic than it's possible for a walking, talking, wounded teenage fox to be on this planet.

I swear to God and Karma that I'm never going to manage to figure out just how I'm supposed to survive this year on Earth, especially now that my home planet is at war with the planet that I'm on right now, I have ribs that are, save for a few, broken and healing as slowly as it;s possible for bones to heal, unlike I'm used to.

Then again, though, maybe that has to with the fact that time passes differently on Earth than it does back on Terra.

Either way, life here just keeps rubbing itself in my face, and well- oh, God! Here comes some more-

"Urggh!" I groan, stomach dry heaving over and over and over again.

Five minutes later, once the twisting and wrenching in my bowels has stopped (for good, as far as I can tell; I know I'm certainly hoping that I can manage to get the stupid thing to leave me in peace for just a little while at bare minimum), I wipe the strings of spit from the edges of my muzzle, and then, although I know that it's going to taste absolutely flocking awful, I stick my tongue out and lick the rest of the bile off of my face.

I can see everyone who's still in the room beginning to crack up at my actions, and to be honest, I can't help it when I begin to laugh myself. I don't know why, maybe it's just the insanity of the whole situation, but I can't help it, I bust out into a fit of laughter, and to my surprise and more than infinite delight, my ribs don't hurt as much as they were earlier. Of course, they still hurt somewhat, but a few small twinges here and there rate much better in my book than do brain-frying spasms of pain that are awfully similar, I would imagine, to getting several ice picks stabbed through my ribs at once.

Put simply, it hurts quite a large bit more than I had ever thought it could be possible for a mammal to feel and stay conscious.

As if in answer to that, my ever so helpful brain decides that it's had enough, and the world goes dark again.

When I wake up, the light of day is still streaming through the windows of the hospital from behind the gray blinds, and when I check the clock on the wall, the digital display beneath the analog face of the clock still displays the date as Saturday, the twentieth of September, thank goodness. I haven't just passed out for another week.

In fact, it looks to me as if I was out for no more than two hours. Strangely enough, though, I feel the most well-rested that I think that I've ever been, save for during the incredibly painful times back on Terra where the instructors for the fitness courses that I was taking would have us run half-marathons, and that was just the morning run. Afterwards, I would crash for a few hours, and the sleep that I would fall into after doing a workout like that was quite similar to the one I just woke up out of.

I look around, and there's no one left in the room, but there is, however, one large plush fox sitting on the chair next to the bed that I'm laying in, though I can't reach it through or over the side rails of this stupid thing. That, and the IV pole that I'm attached to, if I'm remembering what this darn metal pole thingy is called correctly, is too far out of my reach to move it, so I'm somewhat stuck where am, as uncomfortable as that is.

As much as I just know that this whole situation is going to drive me crazy, I also that it's going to be my job to not say a word about it, because nobody, whether they be a human or mammal, is going to want to listen to me complaining. Besides, what's the point in complaining when I have a job to do, and although that job is in no flocking way going to be easy.

That's just life, though, and if I ever heard myself saying that I thought that something in life was ever going to be easy, I think that I'd have to one, smack myself for being stupid, and two, get my hearing checked because I think that I would be hearing things.

Looking around the room, I see that the angles of the shadows that the birch trees that I can just barely see out of my window have grown sharper, which means that it's still growing towards noon, thank goodness for that.

Well… not exactly, because although I haven't slept the day away, the reality remains that I'm still stuck here, but well, at least I'll have some mammals to keep me company.

"Hey, everyone," I say, "I'm sorry that I've managed to spend most of the time that I've been in here either passed out or drugged to sleep." At this, I smile nervously, feeling the end of my tail start to flick back and forth in my lap, and I pin it as quickly as I can, feeling the heat of a blush begin to rise in my cheeks yet again.

"It's alright, Theo," Alaina says, her tail wagging behind her back, though, unlike me, she makes no effort whatsoever to fight away her instinct, which, although I'm never, ever, ever going to admit this to her face, I admire her for being so willing to disregard what other mammals are going to think about her. As much as she can get nervous, she's always been the more level-headed out of the two of us.

"Thanks a bunch for the vote of confidence in me, Alaina," I say, feeling my tail beginning to way even faster," because I sure as flock don't have much confidence in myself.

"You're more than welcome," she says, giving me another wet lick to the cheek. This time, I don't return it, instead, I give her a boop on the nose with then end of one clawed finger, and she laughs.

"What was that for, Theo?" she asks, tail wagging faster behind her back as she laughs. "I thought you didn't have any feewings…."

"You're right, Alaina," I say, smiling, then wincing as my ribs decide that they want to be quite literal pains in my side, or, well, sides, as two hot lances of pain shoot up my sides, leaving me gasping for air once again.

"Are you okay there, Theo?" Isaac says. "You just blanched out for a second there."

"Yeah, I'm okay," I fib, hoping that they'll go back to what they were doing earlier- anything but paying attention to me, because I'm not helpless, I mean, I came across millions of miles of space to attend school here, I know how to defend myself…

"Yeah, right, Theo," Jenna says, blue eyes having gone icily cold. "You know, it's pretty much impossible to lie to mammals like you and I and us. You want to know why?" she asks, tone softening somewhat and losing its hard steel edge.

"Why?" I ask, gulping air nervously.

"Because of our noses," she says, smiling and tapping hers gently. "You know, Theo, I can smell that you're nervous, but why are you trying to hide it? We're not going to judge you, you know. If we were going to, would we still be bothering to sit around in this room, which by the way, is absolutely flocking freezing?"

"Um…" I stammer, unsure how I should answer. "I don't know…..? Would you?"

Jenna laughs, and I can see all of her teeth- sharp and white, like mine. "No, Theo," she says, "we wouldn't be. We're still here, freezing out tails off, because we care about you, Theo, and we love you. Yes, I know that most of us aren't related, save for Isaac and I, but we love you like family, and we all love each other, as well. We're in this together."

"That's right," Tony says, making himself heard for the first time in quite a while. How long that stretch of time actually is, well, that, I couldn't say, but I know that my brain suddenly finds it odd that I'm hearing his voice, so I take it that that must mean that it's been a good long while.

"Hey, Theo," he says, coming to take a knee by my bed. I'm sure that he would gladly have taken a chair it it were offered to him, because, if I'm judging from how his face looks- from the matted fur to the blue and purple bags under his green eyes- he's about ready to collapse, and I thought that I was the one who was having a rough time of it.

"Hey, Tony," I say, stretching out my paw for him to take to get himself back up to a standing position, even if it's only for a few short seconds. "Here," I say, gesturing to an open spot on the end of the gurney that I'm lying in, "why don't you take a seat on the end of this bed. I'm not going to use the space for anything, save for maybe a few spare blankets, and you look like you're fighting sleep right now; I thought that you might appreciate the space to sit."

He sighs, his huffed breath causing his . "You know me way too well, Theo, and we haven't even known each other that long. It's interesting to see, if I'm opening up completely about it, that some people care about an abused teenaged cheetah who acted more like a donkey to the great majority of the people and mammals that he's met, and well, I didn't know that it was possible, quite simply, to be worth receiving anyone's affections.

"Plain and simple, Theo, and I swear that I'm not trying to turn the spotlight on me, but my parents- my father, especially, made it pretty clear that I wasn't wanted, especially after I told them that I had a boyfriend. I can remember their reactions when I came out of the closet- that's just an expression, Theo, I can tell that you were wondering- they asked me what I meant. 'A boy who is a friend, with a space in the middle, I hope,' my father said, 'because you know that we don't bend in this family.

When I told him that there was no space in the middle, well, there's your reason for the long rows of scars down my back. Can you guess how those got there? It's not too hard to do….," he says, smiling nervously as his words trail off. "I'll wait."

"I'm sure that we all can guess, Tony," Mrs. Neve says, and although she doesn't counsel anyone, I wonder if she ever has, because the tone of her voice at the moment seems almost like I would imagine a mentor or counselor's voice being.

"Oh?" Tony asks. "You can?"

"You did show us the scars on your back, after all," I say. "Your dad, right?"

At this, Tony smiles and nods. "I know I've told you the story before, but yeah, my dad. Then my mom went after my wrists- cut them both. Then they let me run- shoved me out into the night, which, by the way, was Christmas, the day before my birthday, too.

"So here I am, a teenage cheetah, slowly bleeding to death on the coldest day in decades, and well, it wasn't good. I went to the hospital, which, thankfully, was just down the road, and I made it there just in time for the emergency room nurses who were there, just the two, to sew my wrists shut and give me a blood transfusion. It was the next day, so I'm told, that they stitched up my back, and by then, it was too late to prevent the scars from forming as the rents in my skin healed, but to me, that was the least of my now many concerns. My relationship with my parents had been on shaky ground for years, ever since I was a kit. Don't ask me exactly why, because I think that I wouldn't be able to tell you why, but I think that it was the time that my mother caught me sneaking kisses with the wolf who would, in about eight years, become my boyfriend. Yeah, I knew all the way back when I was a kit of seven that there was something different about me.

But anyways, I stumble into the hospital, feeling light-headed and holding my wrists shut, but the blood was slowly dripping, leaving small red blotches in the snow behind me, and now on the checkerboard floor of the hospital. I remember getting to the hospital lobby, and then only a snippet after that- me saying 'oh, I don't think that I'm doin' so hot,' and then I remember falling and that was it until I woke up in my hospital bed- room 613, the epitome of bad luck, and I can't help wondering why.

So I wake up the next morning, and I find that I can't talk, because the doctors wired my jaw shut 'cause I busted it into four pieces when I hit the ground and knocked myself out, too, and the mammal who I least want to see in the whole entirety of Earth, because that's where we lived, my ex-parents having emigrated from Terra over three decades ago.

Anyways, I open my eyes for the first time in more than twelve hours to find myself covered in soft blankets, which as great, that is, until I realized that I couldn't say anything, not a single word. That wouldn't help my case much when I wanted to scream when I noticed that my father was in the room, happily chatting up the nurses and going on about he had been so, so, so worried about me, and telling them that I was a dangerous runaway, that I had tried to run away time and time again, that if I were ever able to get my paws on anything that could be possibly used as a weapon, that that was exactly what I would use it for, that it would be safest for everyone in the hospital for me to remain under his full-time, round the clock surveillance.

Of course, had I been able to protest, I would have, but naturally, it was already too damn late- the doctors and nurses were convinced that I was some dangerous psychopath that would kill them at each and every single opportunity that presented itself.

To protect themselves from that supposed dangerous psychopath, the doctors ordered my handcuffed- in my case, pawcuffed- to the rails of my bed, and then, well, I suppose that now would be a good time to tell all of you that my father was a brilliant computer engineer. He know the way around the world of cyberspace, the world of ones and zeroes better than he did the world of reality, so what did he do next? He hacked the system, shut down the cameras that watched my room, then added false feeds back onto the system.

After that, whenever either the doctors or nurses were out, he would torture me- not physically, oh, no, not anything so obvious. Instead, he would whisper into my ears, and me, being chained to the bed by both of my paws, well, I was completely incapable of doing a damn thing to stop him.

Every single day, for minutes that seemed as long, if not longer than hours and hours that seemed to stretch on to infinity, ad infinitum. If you don't know what that means, I'll just tell you- it means 'on forever.' For those hours, I would hear how I was a worthless piece of scat that was better of dead than gay, and yet, he would tell me, me being gay was so much more fun, because then he wouldn't have to feel bad about it.

Oh, and that wasn't the worst part- turns out that he wasn't who he said he was- he wasn't a refugee from Terra, oh, sweet Karma no. He was a convicted rapist and serial killer, and he had fled Terran authorities, then come to hide here. My mother, well, she had been his accomplice along the road, and well, she didn't tell the immigration authorities who she was either.

Yeah, so they managed to convince the hospital staff that they were just the world's most wonderful parents, concerned for their supremely fucked-up son. Suffice it to say that well, it was probably one of the shittiest stretches in my life. I finally got away a month ago, and that was only because I drugged their bottles of one-twenty proof vodka with the strongest 'medicine,' quote-en-quote, that I could find hiding in their closet while they were busy planning their next 'art festival,' and I'm not going to describe what that means, or even just the sickening feeling of discovering that your parents were even less of the mammals that you thought they were; even less of the mammals who they swore they were to and for you, time and time again.

Is that enough for you? I realize that you all probably have plenty of questions left for me, but to be honest, I have no desire to answer them for you, at least, not yet."

"I understand," I say, feeling tears starting to lap at the corners of my eyes, and this time, I don't try to fight them.

"Tony," I say, feeling the tears stream down my face, "just how, how, how the flock did you deal with that? I thought that my life had been rough, but here I am, lying in a hospital bed, and yet, I'm not afraid that every single time that I close my eyes might be the last time that I close them for once and for all, so," I snuffle, "why do you put up with such flocking scat? No, scratch that, such fucking shit?"

At my sudden (and, at least for me, rather profane announcement), everyone jumps back a little in surprise, then looks at me with several near-identical looks of shock.

"Whoa, Theo," Alaina says, grinning, "you actually can swear! And here I was thinking that all of our training back on Terra had knocked all of the sense out of you. I know that I sure as sure didn't forget how to curse, but I sure haven't. You think I have? You're damn wrong."

"Why are cursing?" Mrs. Neve asks. "I don't know why you think that that's a good idea, because, like Alaina says, if you do, you're damn wrong. I think that cursing is the worst idea ever, you know, but if you do, you go right ahead."

"Thanks for the permission, Mrs. Neve."

"You're more than welcome, Theo, and please, call me Bianca. We're not in school here, and besides, we know each other well enough, so I would say. What about you, Theo? What do think?"

"Sounds fine to me, Bianca. So, how long until I get anything to eat, because I'm starting to get hungry, you know?"

"That we do," says one of the nurses who was in my room, coming back in with a metal tray that just so happens to have a glass of pink lemonade on in, and if my nose is right (and it's never wrong), I can smell- oh, my god, finally! It's food, and it smells like it's, well, not the greatest meal in the world- fresh bread, mashed potatoes, cherry Jello, and chicken soup- but well, it's sure better than nothing, and well, after way, way, waaaay too long without anything to drink or to eat, I'm feeling like I could eat a horse. (Again, no offense to horses.)

I want to just tear into the food in front of me, but at the same time, well, I don't want to embarrass myself in front of everyone here, I don't need to start up the whole 'predator! He's going to eat us in our sleep! rigamarole again, I just managed to start to get people on my side.

Yeah, thanks, but no thanks, I'm good.

"It's okay, Theo," Bianca says, gesturing at me go ahead.

"No, Bianca," I say. "You're the alpha, as far as my instincts are concerned, you go first."

"Before I do, Theo, would you mind explaining what you mean to me?"

"Well, no," I say, "I wouldn't. I'm a fox. When we form families, the younger foxes, along with those who are lower in standing, have to wait for the alpha fox, be that a tod or vixen, to eat. Once they eat, then the rest of us can. That's instinct for me, and it just doesn't feel right in my fox brain, even though I know it's okay. My brain says that you, as the oldest here, are therefore the alpha, and I need to wait for you. It's as annoying as flock, but my brain wants to defer to you as alpha, and that means that I'll wait for you to eat."

"Okay, Theo," she says, taking a piece of bread off of the tray and biting into it. "Is that better?"

"Yes, Bianca," I say, "it is, and thank you for understanding. I know that it probably seems as weird as flock to you, but for me, as a mammal, that's the way my brain works."

"Yes, Theo," she says, smiling, "I would think it weird if I didn't have two predators as kids. I hope that you haven't forgotten, young tod…."

"No, I haven't forgotten, Bianca," I say, nose twitching slowly. "It just didn't even cross my mind when I was saying anything."

"That's fine, Theo," she says, taking another bite of her piece of bread. "I know how predators are. You're free to go ahead, I won't stop you."

"Thank you," I say, tearing into my own piece of bread. It's a piece of hard loaf, long and brown and dusted with flour, and to my hungry mind, it's food.

I go to tear into it, but then the sentient part of my mind kicks in, and so I just take small bites, making sure to savor each one. It feels like forever since I've eaten, and well, for a mammal that's used to eating three meals a day, not eating a single one for the majority of a week is killing my stomach, and yet…. Yeah, no. I'm not going to look like an animal in front of my sister and my friends, that's not going to happen.

Instead, I take my knife in my paw, then set in back down when I realize that there's no way that I'm going to be able to really move my arm around with all of these cables- the remote for the television screen that's up above my bed on the wall opposite it, the IV line that's attached to the back of my paw and is now currently wrapped around my arm, the power cords for all of the monitors that I'm hooked up to and whose alarms, at least for a few short moments, are as silent as the one night I spent back on Terra, holding my parents' paws as we laid out under the stars, watching the fireflies flit gently in front of our muzzles and also just watching the shooting stars.

"Hey, Theo, are you still there?" Bianca asks, snapping me back into reality.

"Yeah," I say, blushing in embarrassment, "I am. Sorry about that, I just drifted off into space there for a second or three."

"It's okay, Theo, really, but I just noticed that you're kinda tied up in all of those cables," she says, getting out of her chair, and although I think she's trying to hide it, I think that having to stand up hurts her back. She doesn't look as if she's more that forty-five human years, though, so I don't know why her back would be hurting her.

Before I have any more time to think about that, though, both she and Isaac come over to help untangle me from the cords. Jenna unwraps my paws, moving the poles off to the sides so that way, they'll still work, but also not pull on me.

It's then that I hear a loud whirr from some place off to my left, and then I feel a squeezing feeling on my arm. Looking down to where the feeling is coming from, I notice that there's a blood pressure cuff on my arm, or at least, that's what it looks like. We had similar technology back on Terra, but not quite like this.

Less than a minute later, the pressure goes back down, and then I turn back to the room, where both mammals who were up are now back in their seats, looking at me.

"Is this better, Theo?" Bianca asks me, smiling. "Jenna and I managed to untangle all of the cords for you; go ahead and try to move your arm now, it should be able to move and reach a little bit more comfortably for you. Go ahead, try it out, see what you think and let me know."

I do, and to my surprise and extreme pleasure, I can actually move my arms, and thankfully, as I sit up to grab the tray of food off of the cart to put it on my lap, my ribs don't give me any more trouble as I start to eat- chicken soup first, which is delicious, but just a little too salty for me.

No matter, though, I just drink it down, sipping it as quickly as I can, but unfortunately, that means that I don't actually taste anything, but what the hey, it's food, and like I said, I'm not going to argue with that.

Let's see now, what should I eat next? I've had Jello before, in fact, that was one of the first things that to eat after I came to Earth, and I know that I liked it, so yeah, that seems good to me. Only one problem, though- I only have a fork, not a spoon, and I've never eaten this stuff with a fork.

Oh, well, I suppose, there's a first time for everything, and well, that just so had to include getting my ribs busted into a million pieces; it's also going to include eating Jello with a fork.

Taking the fork in my left paw, my dominant one, I manage poke a piece of Jello, only to have it slip off of the end of my fork. I try it again and again, only to have the same process repeat itself every single time that I try to get the stupid thing up to my mouth.

Five minutes (and way, way, way too many failed attempts) later, I manage to get a piece of the stupid stuff into my mouth, and well, I'm certainly thankful that I managed it without having made a complete fool of myself. Yeah, I made most of a fool of myself, but thank God and Karma that I didn't made a complete fool of myself.

Even though I didn't made a complete fool of myself, though, I can still see that all three other mammals in the room- Alaina, Jenna, and Isaac- are fighting back laughter, and truth be told, so am I.

"You hungry there or what, Theo?" Isaac asks, grinning broadly. "Would it be applicable to say that you're, oh, I don't know, as 'hungry as a wolf?'"

"Yeah," I laugh, "it would be, and I think that I'd mean it rather literally, 'cause like I was saying to your mom, I'm pretty flocking starving!"

"I bet you are, Theo," he says, laughing softly, "I bet you are. But seriously, go right ahead, I'm just waiting for my own meal to be ready from the cafeteria, and then I'm going to go get it, but I'm planning on eating it in here. I am, after all, a pack mammal."

"I see," I say, finally managing to get my fork to take a decent bite into the Jello, which I manage to scoop into my mouth.

Finally, I think. I've been waiting long enough to eat this. I'm starving.

"I see that you're finally having a bit of luck with that Jello there, eh, Theo?"

"Yeah," I say, "finally. It's taken me plenty long enough…."

"Do you need our help eating anything else, Theo?" Bianca asks me. "I'm more than willing to help you out should you need it."

"Thanks," I say, waving one paw no to back up my words, "but I'm good. At least-," I say, trying to fork another piece of Jello and seeing it fall back into the little clear plastic bowl from whence it came, "I was so sure that I was going to be able to get it, but I guess not, so yes, Bianca," I say, feeling a blush begin to heat up my cheeks for the second time this evening, and yep, I still hate it. It drives me crazy that I can't seem to keep my emotions in check, but well, I'm probably pretty darn hopped up on meds right now, so what else am I supposed to expect out of myself, eh?

I'm not quite sure, but the little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me that the answer to that question is 'not much.'

Telling that voice to stuff it, I turn to her, and seeing the look I have on my muzzle, she comes over to help me without any further request.

It's embarrassing, to say the least, that I'm getting fed like I'm a little kit, and yet… Such is life. I could complain some more, but what good would that so me, eh? Oh, wait, I know that answer already- absolutely flocking no good at all.

Thankfully, though, not a single mammal laughs this time, and when I'm done eating (or rather, being fork-fed food to eat), I manage to (without any help, hooray!) snag a napkin off of the stack that's sitting on the side table to my right, as I'm wiping my mouth, Alaina asks me a question that takes me by surprise.

"Theo?" she asks, frowning suddenly, "I know that Earth and Terra are at war officially now, and I've been wondering what we should do about it."

"What do you mean by that, Alaina?" I ask her, setting the now-crumpled napkin back on the table that I took it off of.

"Well, Theo," she says, "have you forgotten something?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, completely confused about what she might mean. "I'm at a complete loss about what you're trying to say there, sis…"

"Um, hello?" she asks, looking at me with a curious look on her muzzle. "Terra to Theo, Terra to Theo, we're not from Earth, silly tod. Did ya remember that, or has all of the the sense gone out of your head after all of the surgeries that you've had to go through over the course of the last several days, eh?"

"Sorry about that, sis," I say, "I've been having a rough week, and I'm sure that you understand…"

"Of course I understand, Theo," she says, bending over the bed and giving me another lick on the cheek, and then leaning away from me.

"Come back here, Alaina," I say. "You're not going to give me a lick on my cheek without getting one back on yours in return, sis."

"Alright, Theo, alright," she says, sighing, although I can see her smile, and before I have any time to react, I feel the wet slide of her tongue up her cheek, and I smile. "I know, I know, but like I was saying earlier, I love you like a blood brother, Theo, and whatever happens to us, I swear to both God and Karma that I'm going to stand by your side the entire way."

"Not literally, though, I hope, Alaina, 'cause otherwise your legs are going to be as sore as flock tomorrow."

"You know what I meant, Theo," she says, socking me softly in the arm.

"Do I know that?" I ask. "Yes, yes, I do."

"You know, Alaina," I say, tapping my claws slowly on the top of the right rail of my bed, "I've been wondering something over the course of the last few days, and I want to ask you something."

"What's that, Theo?"

"I know I'm going to sound naive, sis, but why does the world have to be so cruel?"

"I have no idea, Theo, not as single one whatsoever."

"I have an answer for you, Theo," Bianca says, the smile on her face looking more and more like a pained grimace the longer I look at it.

"And what might that answer be, exactly?" I ask, curiosity piqued and ears perked.

She sighs, then begins. "Theo, the world has always been this cruel, you're just finally growing up enough to realize it."

"Damn," I whistle. "So what are we going to do about that, exactly?"

"I have no idea," Bianca says, "but I'm rearing and ready to find out."


	5. Chapter Five: A Sense of Impending Disaster

Chapter Five: A Sense Of Impending Disaster

“I have no idea, but I’m rearing and ready to find out,” Bianca says, and well, I’m glad that she has such enthusiasm, but like hell if I do. Knowing how my luck has been during my time here on Earth (absolutely flocking scatty), I’m not entirely willing to share her enthusiasm, at least, not in that regard.

“That’s great, Bianca,” I say, nose twitching in a sudden flash of fear, “but I’m scared scatless, and as I was saying to Alaina earlier, we’re not from here. Whose side would we take?”

“That’s an interesting-,” she begins, but before she can finish, the blue emergency lights on the wall flash, and we all start back in surprise. “What the hell was that?”

“I have no idea, but just why, why, why? do I get the feeling right in the pit of my stomach that whatever it is isn’t going to be something that we want, eh?” I say, laughing nervously. “I mean, it’s not as if we’re in any danger, are we?”

As if to mock me, a loud boom sounds from overhead, and the lights flash and flicker once, then again, and finally settle back on, although their light doesn’t seem quite as bright as just five seconds before.

“Um…,” I say, feeling worry come creeping into the edges of my voice. “What the flock is going on? I didn’t think that we were supposed to have a fire drill, but do hospitals even do that sort of thing?”

“No, I don’t think so, Theo,” Jenna says, tail swishing nervously behind her back. “At least, I don’t think that that’s what’s going on, but-”

 

Another boom cuts us off, and once again, the lights flicker and flash. Unfortunately for us, they don’t manage to remain on this time, and the room is dropped into a hazy blackness.

Thankfully for us, though, there’s still the daylight that’s coming in through the windows, although with most of the blinds down, it’s kinda hard to tell what’s going on. My natural vulpine curiosity is telling me that I should get up to find out, but I just tried that, and yeah, well, I’m not exactly aching to do it again, shall we say?

Pun completely intended, of course, but that changes nothing- I want to know what’s going on…

“Jenna?” I ask, having noticed that as soon as the alarms sounded, her ears shot straight back.  
Instead of responding, she looks straight at me, and I can see the fear in her eyes. “We’re at war, Theo, and well, it looks like Terra has decided to offer the first blow.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Jenna?” I ask, feeling fear come creeping into my voice, and before I can stop it, a shiver of fear runs up my spine, and with it, another spasm of pain in my ribs, smaller again this time- more like an ice pick through the ribs instead of a chainsaw.

Shaking the pain aside, I look at her, and I notice that the same fear that I feel in my stomach is much more evident on her face. “Are you alright?” I ash, although I know that it’s a foolish question. Of course she’s not alright, none of us are right now. We’re all on the edge of our seats, as I’ve told the idiom goes. For most of us, that’s quite literal- I can see that all of the other furred people in here are sitting forwards, and I can attest that, I for one, am terrified, and I thought that I was the one who was never afraid of anything.

Okay, on second thought, that’s a lie, I’m terrified of quite a number of things, the whirling noises that are now coming from outside being one of them.

“Does anymammal have a clue as to what the flock’s making that noise?” I ask, feeling a cold chill run along the back of my neck, making me shiver.

“You’re asking me?” Isaac asks, incredulous. “How am I supposed to know when my brain doesn’t want to think because it’s about as terrified as can be. Granted, we do have night vision, and it’s not that dark, but the whole ‘I think we might be under attack by aliens’ deal has kinda set me in an edge that’s rather sharp and painful to sit on, yet at the same time, I have no flocking way to get off of it,” he mutters, shaking his head sadly, tail curling around the bases of his legs in fear and self-protection.

“What makes you think we’re under attack by aliens, Isaac?” I ask, and then it clicks. Terra and Earth are at war. Right, and Isaac’s never met any true Terrans save for us.

Then another thought pops into my head- what’s going to happen now? I mean, if this whole thing gets any more out of paw than it already is, and I don’t even want to get myself started on the possibility that we could be under attack by my own people.

Where would we be then?

It’s a question that I really, really don’t want to think about, but with every single second that goes by, I find myself thinking that yes, it really is something that I need to think about.

Before I can do that, though, I feel a soft paw on my shoulder. I crane my neck to see who it is, and smile when I see that it’s Jenna.

“Are you okay, Theo?” she asks, going to sit down on the edge of the bed again before stopping herself.

“What’s wrong, Jenna?” I ask, surprised that she stopped. “Are you okay? You can sit down if you want to, you know. I don’t care. We’re all freaked out right about now, and don’t anyone even try to tell me that they’re not. If anybody needs comfort, I’ll do the best that I can, just don’t expect me to hug people or mammals, okay?” I say, smiling at those around me. “I don’t want to break my ribs again, okay?”

“Sounds fine to me,” Jenna says, struggling with the rail release on the end “but first things first- how the flock are we supposed to get these rails down, huh? If I’m going to curl up with a friend, how am I supposed to do that if I can’t get onto the bed?”

“Jenna, I don’t think you quite know how that sounded, do you?”

“Um…, no,” she says, “I don’t, why do you ask?”

“Because,” I say, “I kinda need something to distract me from the whole ‘the power’s out and the Two Universes are at war and I’m in the hospital because our lunatic principal decided that he wanted to beat the scat out of me’ bit, you know? 

“Do you know what ‘getting into bed with someone’ means?” I ask, smiling as she heaves herself up to my level and crosses her legs on the end of the bed.

“Um, no, I don’t,” she says, her own smile faltering slightly. “Why? Am I missing another human euphemism or something, eh? Is there some inappropriate meaning there that I’m missing, and don’t even think about trying to pull the wool over my eyes, kapische?”

“Kaposh,” I reply, and Jenna smiles.

“I see,” she says, her tail beginning to flick back and forth behind her in happiness while her right arm quests over the sides of the beds, trying to find the release latches for the bed’s side rails. “But I’m not really worried about it.”

Turning to me, she smiles wider and looks at me, then asks, “How ya doin’, Theo?” she asks. “You look like you’re doing a little better, so are you?”

“Yes, Jenna, I am doing better, but just like you, I don’t like the dark, and I like thunderstorms even less.”

“Then it’s a good thing that you have all of us to help you out,” she says, sitting down in the chair next to my bed, “and believe you me, we need your help with this mess just as much as you need ours.” With that, she gets out of her chair and comes up to lay right at my side right as another clap of thunder rocks the building, and the lights flicker dimly, like they’re spasming out one last gasp of power, then go dark once more. As they do, I feel Jenna nuzzle her nose right into my chest and place her arms around me, making sure to be gentle with my ribs as she hugs me.

It hurts, but only a little, and I can’t help but to feel like I never want to let go of her ever again. It’s a strange feeling, and I can’t claim to understand it in the slightest, but it’s there, and I have no intention of letting her go.

“I’m really tired, Jenna,” I say as I feel a yawn come over me, “and I need to sleep.”

“Oh,” Jenna says. “Do you need me to get up?”

“No, that’s okay,” I say. “Just stay here with me.”

“Alright, Theo,” she says. “Good night.”

“Good night, Jenna,” I say, the lights fading to black.  
\--

When I wake up, there’s daylight filtering in through the blinds on the windows, and when I look to my right, I find that Jenna’s still curled up against my side, snoring softly.

“Hey, Theo,” Isaac says, smiling. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, I did, and don’t tell Jenna, but having someone to curl up with is kinda nice…”

“I can appreciate that,” he says, using the arm that’s not holding a cup of what smells like coffee to point at two things that I hadn’t noticed before- one, a tray of breakfast that actually smells like decent food, and two, another doctor in the same kind of blue scrubs that the others were wearing.

“Hello,” I say, feeling nervous again but willing my nerves to relax. It’s okay, Theo, I think, he’s not going to hurt you.

Thankfully, my nerves let me off the hook just this one time, and I sigh, letting my breath out through my snout and taking another one to make sure that I’m completely calm before turning to face the doctor.

“How are you doing today, Mister Aspen?” he asks, going behind my bed to fiddle with a few cables.

“I’m good,” I say, “but I’m kinda sick of lying here in this bed, you know?”

“I understand completely, and that’s actually why I came in,” he says, smiling and beginning to unhook cables until, five minutes later, all of the pads and monitors and cuffs have been unhooked for the first time in who knows how long.

“Do you want to try and get up?” the doctor asks me, putting the bed’s side rails down and stretching out his arm for me to hold on to when I pull myself up (presuming I can even manage it at all…).

“Yes, of course I would, doctor, of course I would,” I say. “Is that even a question that you have to ask?” I say, hoping that he notices that I’m smiling, not trying to scare him off with my teeth. I don’t need any more of that kind of scat in my life. I’ve had enough, but with all of this new crap that’s going on- me with my busted-up ribcage and the whole ‘our two planets are at war’ thing- yeah, it’s a mess, and I don’t need to come across as scary or threatening, I’m a fox, for cripes sake, but I’m more human than animal.

I’m not having much luck convincing most of the humans that I meet of that, though, with the luck I’ve got?

Yeah, I ain’t pushing it.

“No, Mister Aspen,” the doctor says, “I don’t think so, but you never know.” With that, he takes my paw in one hand and wraps his other free arm around my back, making sure to lift me gently up.

 

Taking care to set me down gently, he places me on my feet, still hanging onto my right paw in case I fall (which I pray to the Celestials above that I won’t, but well, we’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.), and I try to walk- slowly, of course.

My legs wobble beneath me, and I can see that they’ve lost quite a lot of their muscle. Great, now I have to hope that I don’t fall. How long have I even been in that bed, anyways?

Thankfully, I have a bed rail to hang on to just in case. I take a tentative step forward, and thankfully, I don’t fall. I skid just a little, but thankfully, the table where I think we’re heading towards isn’t too far away, so I don’t have to worry so much about that right now.

What I do have to worry about, though, is the whole matter of ‘what now?’ I know everyone’s going to be wondering, but I really have no idea. I can’t come up with answers when I’m still sore.

Granted, I’m not nearly as sore as I was just a day or two ago, but now there are more pressing issues. Quite honestly, I’d rather they put their own priorities before mine. I can take care of myself (well, with a little help, of course), but I can do most of it on my own.

Unfortunately for me, though, I don’t think that the body my mind is stuck in is entirely willing to do that, and I stumble again, and this time, I end up landing hard on my knees before either the doctor or my paws can catch me.

Okay, I don’t know if I want to keep dealing with this sort of scat. It’s been a long day already, and I haven’t even been up for that long. Great, but what can I do?

Well, I could sit here on my knees like I am with them screaming bloody murder, or I could push myself up back onto my paws like it never affected me at all. Of course, I’d really rather just sit and cry, and from the heat that’s starting to well up in my cheeks and in the tops of my ears, I’m about to, whether I want to or not. I seriously hope that I’m not blushing, because that would probably be even worse of a blow to my pride than not being able to support myself.

Pun absolutely not flocking intended!

Before I break completely, though, thank whomever above might be listening, the nurse helps me to my paws and hands me a towel.

“What’s this for?” I ask, tears still streaming down the sides of my face.

“What else would it be for, Theo?” she asks. “I’m not the one sniffling on the floor; I thought that you might appreciate it. Besides, it’s kinda hard to get someone up off of the floor if they’re focusing on how much they’re hurting at that moment instead of the positive, you know?”

“I do,” I say, taking the proffered towel and using it to wipe away my tears, feeling a smile come over my muzzle for the first time in much too long. “I have a question for you when you have the chance,” I say, letting my innate curiosity take over for a second. Hell, it distracts me from the pain that’s throbbing in my wrists, so I’m not going to argue with that, anything that could help keep my mind off of the mess I’m in is going to be much appreciated.

“Oh?” the nurse asks me. “And what might that be?” she says, pulling me up to my paws as she does.

“Do you happen to know why the power’s gone out?” I ask, feeling my tail curve into a question mark curve. “I mean, I’d heard that there were attacks, and I figure that that’s part of it, but what’s going on?”

“I don’t know if you know much about what’s been going on in the outside world recently, Theo, but-”

“But what? I know there were attacks, and yeah, I’m scared too, but we’re kinda stuck in this hospital without any power, and well, kinda tired of this scat. I need some way to get my mind off of the stress, so does anyone have any ideas, please?” I ask, willing the pain in my wrists to go away.”

“How about some aspirin first?” the nurse asks me, placing a hand on my shoulder. 

“That sounds good, actually,” I say, and the nurse goes over to one of the cupboards across the room from my bed, unlocks it with one of the keys from the loop on her belt, and takes out a small orange bottle with a white cap. If I had to guess, it has some sort of pain meds in it, which she confirms as she comes back over and hands me two of the pills, plus a glass of water.

“Are you going to need any water, Theo, or anything else?”

“No thanks, I’m good,” I say, swallowing the pills dry like I’m used to doing, then a thought hits me, and I lick my lips and clear my throat.

“I need something to keep me occupied, you know? My brain needs something to do with itself, otherwise it kinda goes off-the-rails loopy, and that’s never good for anyone. It’s just part of being a fox, but it’s annoying, to say the least. So what do you say?”

“That sounds fine to me,” Isaac says, slumping on the couch, his weariness obvious from the bags around his eyes and the droop in his ears.

“Wha-?” Jenna asks, waking up from her nap and stretching out behind me. “How long was I out for? Did I miss anything?”

“I don’t think so,” I say. “Would you like to hear a little bit about Alaina and I? I need something to do with myself, and I think you guys deserve to know how both of us got here. Alaina, do you mind sharing?”

“No, I don’t mind at all,” she says, trying her best, I can tell, to keep herself from falling asleep.

“Here, would a cup of coffee work?” the nurse asks. “That usually works for me, so how about it?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Alaina says, “but I don’t think that you want me to die of a heart attack do you?” The nurse shakes her head no vigorously, and Alaina continues. “Caffeine’s deadly to mammals like us- canids and vulpines, and coffee’s full of the stuff.”

“Oh,” the nurse, whose name tag I can finally read (Nurse Dawson, it says, in faded black block print) says. “I see. So what would be better? I think there might be some tea in the nurses’ break room down the hall, and the power shouldn’t be out for too much longer, maybe another five or six hours at the most.”

“I don’t really want to wait that long for a cup of tea, if you really wouldn’t mind.”

“I understand completely,” Nurse Dawson says, “it was only a suggestion. I should be able to get one of the hot pads running, they’re battery powered so they should be okay.” Changing the subject slightly, she asks, “So what kind of tea should I get, and is anyone else but us three going to want any?”

“I’m good,” Mama says, and Papa and Mrs. Neve nod in agreement.

“What kind would everyone like?” Nurse Dawson asks. 

“How about ginger for me?” I ask. “Ginger’s good for fox stomachs, and it doesn’t have any caffeine in it as far as I know. Oh, and with honey too please, that is, if you can find it safely. Don’t die for my sake, please.”

“I won’t, so don’t you worry about that at all, Theo, okay?”

“Alright,” I huff, putting on a pout like I’m a little kit. “But do I hafta not worry? I don’ ‘no about that…”

“You can do it,” she says, smiling at my screwiness. “It’s like Pooh told Christopher Robin when Christopher was growing up in the books, ‘Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.’”

That’s wonderful advice, I think. How have I not heard it before? Oh, that’s right, I know it’s because I’m not from this flocking planet!

“So a cup of ginger tea for the tod, how about for the other young mammals and other humans in the room?” Nurse Dawson repeats, and I realize that I’ve gotten caught up in my thoughts again.

“Yes, that’d be great,” I say, and everyone else nods the same for the second time today.

“Okay, then,” Nurse Dawson says. “Hang tight, everyone, I’ll be back with a few cups of that tea you all want in a few minutes.

“Thank you,” we all chime in unison, and then I notice that everyone’s looking at me, what for, if I had to guess? A story, of course!

“So,” I say, trying to put a calm mask on, “do you all still want us to tell you that story?”

“I know I do,” Jenna says, smiling.

“Me too!” Isaac says, his tail starting to twitch wildly. “I wanna know!”

“And that’s why we’re here,” Alaina says, smiling. “So, Theo, to get back on track, you said that you wanted me to go first?”

“Yeah, I did, Alaina, if you wouldn’t mind,” I say, making sure to give her my best ‘puppy eyes,’ and she sighs comically.

“You win, Theo, you win, I’ll start.” Turning to everyone else, she takes a seat on the armrest of the chair her brother is sitting in, and takes a deep breath.

“What do you want to know?” she says, addressing everyone else. “I could start with a little about me, if you’d like.”

“That sounds good,” I say.

“Alright then,” she says. “I’m Alaina Lupa, I’m fifteen years old, although that’s in mammal years, not human years. I don’t know how that would match up, but anyways, I’m not exactly from this planet, I mean, for me, it’s weird thinking that humans are the dominant species on this planet, even after two, nearly three months here, so I can’t imagine what you guys must think of all of us when you’re used to animals walking on four legs, some of them being food, and none of them talking. I mean, look at all of us- we’re animals, and I mean that literally, but we act like all of you.

“Anyways, to get back on track and not distracted- hint, hint, Theo- I signed on to this whole mess because I wanted to get away from the mess back home, you know, war, the whole ‘being an orphan’ thing, yeah, not fun, and so I wanted to put myself about as far away from that whole scatpit as I could. 

“There was only one teensy, tiny problem though, and that was a complete lack of any opportunity. Were there any, I would have taken them in a heartbeat, no, less than a heartbeat, that’s how desperate I was to get away. Luckily enough for me, the government caught wind of the mess that was starting up and decided that, should the unrest turn into full out war among the planets of the Terran system, they wanted to ensure the survival of the Terran races, and so they sent us here- orphans, without any real family to speak of- to try and learn a little bit about the humans, but just in case war broke out and we couldn’t make it back home, which I’m kinda thinking just might happen, there would be families to take us in.

“That opportunity just so happened to be an exchange program, and it put us here. Theo, is it just me, or are you finding that our Human Culture classes taught us absolutely flocking nothing?”

“Don’t worry, Alaina,” I say, smiling, “It’s absolutely not just you, ‘cause I found myself in the same exact boat when I got here, too, so you’re not alone, though I know it probably felt like you were.”

“I’m awfully glad to know that, Theo,” she says, returning my smile with one of her own. “So anyways, like I was saying, we signed on for this whole mess without having the slightest clues of what we were going to be getting ourselves into.”

“If you had known what you were going to get yourself into, Alaina,” I ask, “would you have still signed up for the Venturing program all those years ago?”

“I don’t know, Theo, I don’t know if I would’ve. I think that I still would have, though, because I know you know because of it. You know,” she says, “I want to say thank you to everyone for being willing to listen to me. That’s one of the things that I most regret about my life, that I never told my parents that I loved them enough before the day that everything went to scat, and no,” she says, putting out a paw, “you can’t ask about it, I’m not going to tell you what happened. All that I’m willing to and going to say is that the last thing I ever said to them was that I hated them and that I never wanted to see them again, this was after my mother tried to quit what I was doing as part of the local service club because ‘that wasn’t what wolves do,’ or did, rather. We didn’t help others, we were pack mammals. Those are pretty much verbatim, and every time I feel down on myself, I hear those words echo in my thoughts, that this isn’t what I should be doing with myself, and I have to shake them away, because if I let them sit and rattle around my head, then I’m just going to start getting down on myself.

“I know me, and if I let those thoughts go on for long enough, then it becomes way too flocking hard to get them to shut up without them tearing a chunk out of my soul as they leave.”

“Awfully dramatic, Alaina,” Bianca says, “ but I get what you mean. That must be awful.”

“Believe me, it is,” she says, “but I do better if I talk about it, you know?”

“I do.”

“Good,” she says, smiling wider, her tail starting to wag slightly from side to side. “I’m glad someone else understands.”

“We all get it, Alaina, really, we do,” I say. “Is there anything else you’d like to say? We’re all ears, so go ahead.”

“Other than an enormous thank you?” she asks. “No, I don’t think so. Theo, is there anything that you’d like to share? Maybe how you ended up as a Venturer? I think Jenna and Isaac are dying to hear…”

“Not funny, Alaina,” I say, frowning at her. “Not flocking funny at all…”

“Geez, Theo, it was only supposed to be a joke, you know. I didn’t mean it seriously…”

I sigh, then look her straight in the eyes. “I know, Alaina, it’s just that I’m not much for that kind of humor, and I think you can figure out why. I’m sure that there was once a point in my life where I did like that sort of pun, but not any more. Can we change the subject, please, and change it back to Venturing?”

“That’s fine with me,” Alaina says. “Again, Theo, I didn’t mean it that way and you know it.”

“As I asked, can we please drop the topic?” No one answers. “Thank you,” I say, taking a deep breath and letting it out through my nose. “So anyways, as I was saying, I’m Theodore Aspen, but I’m sure most of you just know me as Theo,” I say, trying to be silly about the whole thing and lighten the mood. Thankfully, it seems to be working for right now.

“Anyways, as I was saying, hi, I’m Theo. If you can’t tell, I’m a red fox, and no, I’m not sneaky or sly like a certain principal seems to think. Anyways, I decided to jump aboard with this whole Venturing thing because I needed to get away from home on Terra. Our government is nasty, and when war comes, because it’s not a question of if it will back there, they like to force us predators to enlist first. Those that enlist first get put in the regiments that are deployed straight to the front lines, and those that go to the front lines are pretty much guaranteed to die short, quick, and painful deaths at the hands (or, like it is in most cases, paws) of the invaders, but heck, that’s why I’m here, to avoid a quick, painful death.

“Oh, wait…. I’m not dead yet, but these ribs of mine are just about as painful as can be. Ow, ow, ow!”

“Why did Mister Marlboro decide to kick your ribs in, anyways? That makes no sense. After all, he was pledging to the school that he would welcome you two into the building with open arms, not beat the shit out of you. All of this makes no sense whatsoever, at least to my mind,” Bianca says. “In fact,” she continues, “I had mentioned to my son and daughter here that the school would be accepting animal students, and that was two months ago…”

“Yeah,” I say, nodding. “I’d say I understood it, but then I’d be lying. Another thing that I don’t understand is how you two, Isaac or Jenna- how did either of you end up here on Earth fifteen years ago? I mean, there’s been a war going on for forever, but evac programs have been going on for only a Terran century, which would be about seven, maybe eight Earth years, so yeah, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know, Theo, I don’t know, I really don’t know, and you’re one of the Terrans here, so if you don’t know, then how am I supposed to?”

“I got nothin’,” I say, as Nurse Dawson comes back in, the tray that she’s struggling to keep balanced in her hands laden with cups of tea.

“Would you like help with that, Nurse Dawson?” Mama asks, not even waiting for the nurse’s answer before she gets up to add her own two hands to the tray, and together, they manage to get it set on the counter underneath the cabinets where the aspirin was.

“Thank you, Mrs….?”

“Maranza,” Mama says, “and you’re very welcome, Nurse Dawson. I’m glad I could help. Is there anything else that I can help you with? I could help you pass out those cups of tea if you’d like. I just need something to do is all. I can get a little stir-crazy, you know?” 

“Tell me about it,” I say, and push myself off of the bed and up onto my own two feet. Nurse Dawson starts to come over, obviously surprised at my ability to stand. Quite honestly, I am too, but also thankful at the same time. My ribs are still painful, but I figure that they’re not going to get any better if I just lay around for another day or three. I know, I fell earlier, but I’m feeling a little better, and I really need to get out of this room.”

“I understand completely, Theo,” Papa says from his place beside Mama. “Are you going to need help getting around? I don’t want to see you falling down again.”

“As much as I don’t want help, I don’t think that it would be a safe idea for me to pass up an offer of help, at least, not right now.”

“I’d agree with that,” Papa says, nodding, and as he nods, the ends of his now-silvering mustache bob up and down. “How about I help you out there, Theo? We could go for a walk down the halls, see what’s been going on outside. I know we’re at war, is that what those ships that we saw earlier were? Terran warships? They weren’t like anything that I’d ever seen…”

“Yes, Papa,” I say, nodding, “they were. I don’t know what Terra’s after, it was the Sturgman we we were fighting, not the humans…”

“Then I wonder why the two planets are at war,” he muses, twisting the ends of his mustache in nervous agitation. “If a Terran doesn’t know why his own planet is at war, then we have serious troubles on our hands, or paws, if those are what you have. I can only hope that everything turns out alright.”

“Me too, Papa,” I say, taking his outstretched hand. He pulls me up, then wraps my arm around his neck so that I can use him for support.

“Okay, here we go, my son,” he says, and we take my first step in nearly a week together. It takes a little bit to get used to having any weight on my feet again, and I wobble a little, and as much as it’s embarrassing to admit, I nearly fall two more times during our walk. Thankfully for me, though, Papa is there to catch me when I stumble, for which I, for some reason that escapes me, can’t stop apologizing for.

Five minutes and another stumble and profuse apology later, we stop, and Papa turns to me, his expression serious.

“Theodore,” he says, using my full first name for the first time, “you don’t need to worry about it, okay? I know you’re not a trickster, so stop tricking yourself into thinking that every little thing is your fault, okay?”

“But-” I try to protest, knowing that, in a way, this whole mess is my fault, I was the one who got the scat beaten out of me, not anyone else, I was the one who-”

“Theo, enough,” Papa says, his tone hard and serious, but not angry, thankfully. “I understand that you’re worried and stressed, but you’re only going to make it worse by not talking about it to someone, okay?”

“Okay, Papa,” I sigh. “I understand, I’ll stop complaining. I get it, it’s not helping anyone or anything…”

“Theo, look at me,” Papa says, his expression and tone softening. “You have every right to voice your thoughts, okay, but dwelling on the negatives isn’t going to let things get better. You have to forgive yourself, okay. I love you, kit of mine, as much as if you were my own blood. Granted, that’s impossible, but you get what I mean, right?”

“I do, Papa,” I say, “so what do you want to tell me?”

“When I was a kid,” he begins, “I was, for lack of a better or more fitting term, awfully bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”

“Do you mean that literally?” I ask. “I didn’t think humans had tails, so did I miss something again?”

“No, Theo,” Papa laughs, “it’s an expression, so no, I didn’t mean it literally.”

“Oh,” I say, feeling foolish for not having realized that. “So what does it mean, exactly?”

“It means that I felt rather enthusiastic about my chances of becoming one, a counselor, that is. Everything was going along perfectly for me, that is, until the day when some fools who lived in the house just down the road from us decided that they wanted to go out partying the night of graduation. Me, I was at home, sitting on the couch and watching my favorite TV show, which just so happened to be on at that time. No partying for me, thanks, I was always the responsible little goody two-shoes who did everything right, and well, I had seen what the drink had done to my Uncle Henry- he got himself hooked on drinking one particularly crazy night, and he never stopped.

“In fact,” he continues, “it was that drinking that led him to get into his own car one black night several years before, and it was drinking, that alcohol in his system, that influenced his thinking any made his already fogged-up mind decide that it was a great idea to get into his car and go barrelling down the interstate at forty-odd miles and hour over the speed limit, and down the wrong side of that very same interstate.

“The troopers found him, plus six other cars, piled up in a mangled heap on the median of the interstate, not even ten minutes after he called my mother, who was at work, and he says to her, and I quote, ‘Jemmalynn, I’m done. I’ll see you later, sis.’”

“She never heard from him again, and when my parents found out, they were devastated. They swore off alcohol faster than Corrie Nation could smash a bottle with one of her axes, and they never touched the stuff again.

“Anyway, this is where the irony comes in: my father had just finished telling my sister, a mere three years older than me at eighteen, that if she ever thought that she could get away with drinking while she lived under my parents’ roof (having just been caught coming back from being out at the bar with some pals of here), then she could get out.

“She said to my father that she’d rather go to her room, and she wished he weren’t such a nosy busybody. She also said something that I’m sure will haunt her for the rest of her life.”

“What was that, Papa?” I ask. “What could she have said and then regretted so badly later?”

“What she said, Theo, was that drinking and driving never hurt anyone that she knew, and then, before we could do anything, we hear the crunching of the wooden post of the mailbox outside snapping, and an engine roaring, tires squealing…” He shakes his head, as if he’s trying to blot out his thoughts, which I suppose he has.

“Less than two seconds later, there comes a silver sedan, lights glaring insanely brightly, and I have no time to react before it comes through the front of our house. Thankfully, I as out of the way, but there were three other people in that house who were in the way of that car and who also had just as little time to react as I did. In fact, I think that they might’ve had even had less time than I did, because they were right in the track of that car.

“I don’t quite remember everything that happened after that, most of my memory is from about two, maybe three seconds after the incident that changed my life forever. Before that moment, I was a successful fifteen-year-old, I’d been working a summer job since the day I turned thirteen and could legally do so, and as I got older, I took on even more work at the diner where I worked.

“More shifts, anything, really, to make some cold, hard cash that I could while away a little bit of and then put the rest into my savings account, because as I knew, as I was so certain of and dead-set on, I was going to be a counselor and help all of the young kids that I knew were going to need someone to be there to help them solve the issues in their lives.

“All of that changed in a split second, thanks to a drunk driver who looked to be dead at the wheel, and at that point, I knew things weren’t going to be good. We didn’t have any type of insurance to speak of, no protections or policies, just a pile of shit left behind.

“The ambulance crew showed up after what felt like it was countless eternities, but as I was told by the dispatcher, it was only five minutes. My parents lived, thankfully, so did my sister, and I’m sure you can guess about the driver that came through the front door with his Toyota Juneau, can’t you, Theo?” he asks, and I nod sadly.

“He was dead after all, wasn’t he, Papa?” I ask, and he nods.

“Dead on arrival, they said, dead on arrival.” He shakes his head sadly. “You know, Theo, ever since that day, I’ve wondered what my life- all of our lives- would have been like if either a), we had had insurance to cover the bills, or b), if the situation could have been avoided in the first place, because it was after that day that every one of my dreams found themselves being slowly shredded, rather painfully, by the reality that I now had to go to work, full-time and more, to cover everyone’s medical bills when they couldn’t go back to work after getting out of the hospital after rehab and the rest of the gamut three and a half months later.”

“Why couldn’t they go back to work, Papa?” I ask. “Could they just not work anymore, after being hurt so badly?”

“No, they could work just fine,” he says, twisting his mustache again. “But who would want to hire them, knowing that they had been hurt so badly? After all, isn’t it the case that, once something’s broken, it can’t ever go back together the way it was originally?”

“I suppose,” I say, “but that just doesn’t make any sense.”

“And you think it’s supposed to make any fricking sense to me, either, Theo?”

“Okay, this time, I get that you’re being sarcastic, but to answer the question, no, I don’t think it makes any sense to anyone. Let me guess, you’re still still paying those bills off, even what, ten, fifteen years later?”

“Okay, yes to the first part, I am still paying the bills off. Second, Theo, just how old do you think I am? In human years, that is.”

“I don’t know, Papa,” I say. “Maybe thirty?”

“Add another twenty-two onto that and you’ll be good.”

“You’re fifty-two?” I ask. “You sure as flock don’t look it….”

“Thanks, Theo,” he says, giving me a bright smile. “But yeah, I’m over fifty, and although that age isn’t that so bad for us humans, it’s still decently old.”

“Tell me about it,” I say. “Foxes don’t usually live much longer than sixty years, and those are Terran yeats, not Earth years. I don’t know how that would work, but I’m praying that it won’t mean that I’m old and gray in three years.”

“Again, Theo, you don’t need to worry so much. Is there anything more positive that we could talk about, my son? Maybe how you managed to get up and out of bed for the first time in a week, and you’re doing rather well for yourself.”

“Thanks, Papa,” I say. “I am glad that I’m out of that gurney, although I still can’t help wondering why I was the target in the first place. Why me, of all people and mammals? What did I do to deserve being turned into a bongo drum and frisbee at the same time? Why, why , why, why why why?”

“I wish I had an answer for you, Theo, I really do, but I don’t. What do you think, because I wasn’t there? I had no idea what was going on until I got the call that you were here.”

“Maybe his family had a bad run-in with some foxes before? But no, that doesn’t make a single bit of sense. There’s got to be more to this whole thing than that, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I would, and I’d say that that particular motive seems a little too flimsy for my liking. I think, Theo, that he’s a biased bastard that had a mental break or something like that.”

“But that’s the thing,” I say. “Sure, he’d been hostile to me before, but, and this is just what I think, I don’t believe that he just suddenly snapped and lost it. I mean, I’ve heard of some mammals where similar things have happened, but I certainly wouldn’t say that Mister Marlboro just up and lost it. I think that maybe he was trying to trick us by faking his calm outside and then decided to let go on me. That’s my guess, anyway.”

“It’s as good of a guess as any,” Papa says, shaking his head. “I don’t think that we’re ever going to know for sure.”

“And really,” I say, “who wants to know?”

“Not me, my kit,” Papa says, smiling sadly now, “not me. Do you want to keep going, or would you like to sit here some more?”

“I don’t know, Papa,” I sigh, “I really don’t know. I’m tired of being so down on myself, and yet it feels like I can’t let go of all the little things, and I have no idea why. I didn’t use to be like this, in fact, before I came here to Earth, I could use the fingers of one paw to count all of the times that I was ever truly sad, but now, well, there are just too many to even keep track of, you know?”

“But why worry about them? You’re the one saying that you should relax and let things go a little bit, kit of mine, so why aren’t you taking your own advice?”

“I don’t know again, Papa,” I whimper, my tail trying to wring out my legs like someone wringing out a sponge. “I’m trying to be a good fox, I really am, but any time that I start to make any progress, my emotions get the best of me, and well, that’s kinda what I got going on right now…”

“So what do you want to do about it, Theo?” he asks. “Like I said earlier, I wanted to be a counselor when I was younger, I have quite a bit of practice with all of this stuff.”

“What I’d like, Papa,” I say, feeling that stone-cold weight of doubt beginning to lift off of my chest and mind once more, “is to sit on your lap, if you wouldn’t mind…. I’m not too heavy, and I really need the company.”

“That’s fine, Theo,” he says, and I slide over to him, then lift myself onto his lap, my arms instinctively wrapping around his chest.

“Thank you, Papa,” I say, “for being there for me.”

“You’re welcome, Theo,” he says, pulling me in gently so as to to not hurt my ribs. Before I can stop it, my tongue slips out and gives Papa a wet lick on the cheek in affection.

“Oh, geez,” I say, clapping a paw over my muzzle in surprise and embarrassment, though no shame comes this time, “I’m really sorry, I had no idea that that was going to happen. Sometimes my tongue kinda seems to have a mind of its own, and I guess that this is one of those times…”

“Don’t worry, Theo,” he says, stretching his arms and getting up, beckoning with one hand at me, telling me to get up as well, “I love you too.”

“So,” I say, smiling broadly, willing my self-doubting thoughts to go away and never return again, “where should we go now?”

“I was thinking the library. How does that sound?”

“That sounds like a great idea to me, Papa,” I say, tail starting to flick back and forth, “so where is it?”

“One floor above us,” he says, and a few minutes later, we’ve reached the elevator banks, only to find a sign taped on each one, a piece of plain white paper with “Elevators out of service due to attack. Please use the stairs.”

“Oh-kay then,” I say, feeling my disappointment and frustration rise again before I will it back down. “So just how are we supposed to get there?”  
“You can read English, can’t you?” Papa asks, his tone half joking, half serious.

“Yes, Papa,” I say. “ I can, and yes, I know what the sign says, I’m just really not in the mood to have to go up a set of stairs, you know? Too much up and down for me.”

“Well, not everything in life is going to be easy, Theo,” Papa says, like an old Terran wise mammal giving his sage advice to the people. “If you want something that badly, you’re going to have to fight for it. A lot of those things- and I mean a lot of those things are going to make you hurt like hell and make you wonder why in the heck you’re even doing shit like this, but I know for a fact that all of those painful experiences are only going to make you stronger in the end, you know? Yes, I know it hurts, but you’re just going to have to grin and bear it. Now,” he says, his tone growing serious once more, “am I going to have to tell you that again, or has my advice managed to sink in yet?”

“I think it’s managing to sink in there a little, Papa,” I say, letting a smile creep onto my muzzle and enjoying how it feels to have one there. I never thought that I would be one to say that having one would feel weird, but after feeling so flocking stressed out for so flocking long, it does.

“So does that mean that you’re going to try to go to the library? I hope the answer is yes, because I’m not going to take no for an answer. You can do it, I know you can,” he says, by way of encouragement.

“Which way to the stairs?” I ask.

“I think that they’re down the hall to the right, if I was reading the hallway signs right as we were coming down this way.”

“Race you,” I say, in an attempt to lift my spirits even more, and thankfully, it works. Papa smiles and laughs, and I set off, Papa calling out “Hey, wait up, you’re going too fast for me, Theo,” as he shuffles his feet slowly down the hall.

It takes us another minute or so to reach the stairs, and another fifteen to make my way up them, seeing as how I have to stop to take a break and catch my breath every few stairs.

Thankfully, though, after what feels like forever longer, we make it to the top, and by some miracle from heaven, my ribs are playing nice. I can’t seem to figure my body out as of late, and it’s getting on my nerves more and more and more with every passing hour. Sometimes a few steps in enough to make my ribs scream in agony, like was the case during the first few minutes of this wild expedition, but now, after fighting my way up three double flights of stairs, they don’t hurt at all. I have no idea why, but hell, I think that I’ve done more than enough complaining for the day, if maybe even a lifetime.

“So we’re here, Theo, and it’s taken us freaking long enough, I would say,” Papa groans as we walk through the doorway into the library, where it’s deadly silent, save for the nervous tap-tap-tapping of the librarian’s nails on the keys of her computer. I wonder what she’s typing.

Maybe, I think, she’s writing something to help her cope with the stress of the scat that’s going on.

You know, my brain continues, I could do something like that myself. Maybe it would be good therapy. After all, I have done things like that, but that was years ago, right after my parents died horrible deaths and I found myself an orphan, but that was forever ago, and I’m a little out of practice.

No, scratch that, I’m a lot out of practice with that sort of stuff, but even still…

Maybe I could ask the librarian if she has anything that I could write on. After all, this place is full of paper, so there’s bound to be some blank pages somewhere.

You know, I think I’ll do that.

“Are you okay there, Theo?” Papa asks, a look of concern creasing his face and making the wrinkles on his forehead any around his eyes seem even deeper.

“Yeah, Papa,” I say, “I’m still here, I just got lost in thought there for a second, you know?”

“I do,” he says. “I’ve drifted off into space like that a few times myself. “What were you thinking about?”

I tell him, and he nods, smiling and giving a wave of his hand. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, my kit. Do you want me to wait here while you go ask?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, Papa,” I ask, “yes please.”

“Alrighty then,” he says, and goes to find himself a seat in one of the chairs over by the fireplace across the room, in which there seems to be a fire glowing brightly, which would explain why this place isn’t as cold as the rest of the building or as cold as my tea is probably going to be by the time I get back to my room.

As he takes his seat, I muster up all of the scraps of courage that I have left, and go over to the desk where the librarian is, ‘Circulation Desk,’ the small wooden sign on its top reads.

“Hello?” I ask, and the librarian starts backward, first in what I would guess to be surprise at the sudden noise, and secondly when she gets a look at the person asking the question.

“What are you?” she asks, obviously nervous. “You’re not one of those invaders, are you? You’re not here to kill us all?”

“Why would I be?”

“I thought that all the talking animals were Terrans, and the Terrans are at war with us, aren’t they? Isn’t that how all the sci-fi movies work, where one planet sends down troops to blend in and take over from the inside out?”

“Okay, to answer your questions,” I say, “yes, all of the talking mammals like me are Terrans, and no, I’m not here to kill you all. I have no idea what’s going on, all I’d like is a book, if you would be so kind.”

“Oh,” she says, “Okay then. What kind of book would you like?”

“I don’t know. I was born and raised on Terran literature, not Earth literature. I’m on exchange from Terra as a student, not as an invader, and I’m kinda sick of sitting in a hospital bed with nothing to do with myself except let my thoughts bounce around my head and drive me insane.”

“I see,” the librarian says, still cautious. “So what kind of book?”

“I was actually hoping that you might be able to suggest something for me to read, ma’am. What’s your favorite book?”

“I would have to say that that would probably be the one that I’m reading right now,” the librarian says, giving me a slight smile. “I didn’t know Terrans could read English.”

“I had to learn how to in order to even be eligible for the exchange program,” I say, and the librarian nods.

“Anyways,” she continues, “you asked me what my favorite book is, and I think that if I had to pick just one, well, that’s an awfully hard question, but it would probably have to be The Kite Runner, written by a man by the name of Khaled Hosseini.”

“Oh?” I ask, “What’s it about?”

“A young man- a human, living in Afghanistan during the a time when the Russian army was occupying it, and his trying to fix the mistakes of the past. Of course, that’s a really cooked-down summary of it, but you get the idea, right?”

“I think so,” I say, “but do you have any other suggestions? I don’t know if I’ll be able to understand anything about that book. I mean, I’ve only been on Earth for a few months, so I’ve still got a lot to learn, I think, and geography’s not something that I’ve ever been good at.”

“I see,” the librarian, whose name I still haven’t learned, says. “So you’re new to this planet?”

“Yeah, I am,” I say. “I’ve only been here on earth for about two and a half months, and a week of that time’s been spent here in the hospital, or so it feels like. I’m Theo Aspen, by the way,” I say by means of an introduction. “And you are…?”

“Marina Contra,” she says, “but you can call me Marina if you’d like, or if you’d rather not call me by my first name, Mrs. Contra is fine too.”

“Alright then,” I say, smiling and hoping that too many of my teeth aren’t showing, because I don’t want her to be scared of me. “Do you have any other books that you would suggest, Mrs. Contra?”

“Hmm, well, what kind of book do you like to read? We have plenty to choose from, so I’m sure that there’ll be something here that you might want to check out.”

“Well, I’d like to read, well…. Back on Terra, I would try to read any science fiction magazine that I could get my paws on, but I don’t know if you’d be able to find anything like it here on Earth, our stuff was the opposite of what it is here on Earth. They were more like anti-science fiction magazines, imagining what our lives would be like without all of the gadgets- that is the right word, right? Gadgets?”

“Yeah, it is,” Mrs. Contra says. “You were saying…?”

“What was I saying? Oh, right, I was wondering about anti-sci-fi? You know, life without technology taking up all of everyone’s time?”

“I do, and we call those books realistic fiction here on Earth, Theo, though I’m starting to wonder why, because people these days spend more time on their devices and starting at back-lit screens than experiencing real life.”

“Our planets really are a lot more alike that I’d thought,” I say, “um… so do you happen to have any ‘realistic fiction’ on the shelves? I sure hope so, because I really, really, really need something more productive to do with my paws. Anything, and I mean anything to read is going to be better than being cooped up in that darn bed and stuffy room all day, and I’m going to be here a while, seeing as my ribs are still healing and the whole war thing going on.”

“Speaking of war, Theo,” Mrs. Contra- Marina- asks, “do you happen to know what that thing was that slammed into the side of the hospital a few days ago? There’ve been construction crews around that thing ever since, and they’ve gotten it out but they can’t figure out what it is for the life of them. My guess was that it was from Terra, or something Terran-made, because it came slamming into the side of the building just after the announcement on the radio station that I was listening to, you know, the broadcast about the United Nations summit and their approval to declare war in return?”

“I know exactly the one you mean,” I say, smiling grimly, “because I was listening to that very same broadcast, and it scared me scatless, wondering what the heck either I or Alaina, my wolf comrade in Venturing, were going to do with ourselves, wondering if we were going to be stuck here for good or what was going to happen then. I’m really, really hoping that everything turns out okay, because I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of an interuniversal war. I’m here for the year on exchange, so I have about eight and a half more months to be here, eight and a half more months for the Two Worlds to figure themselves out. I heard that this whole thing was over who was going to get control over the Bridge- you know what that is, right, the Bridge?”

“Yeah, I do. So Terra has control of it, this Bridge?”

“I think so…”

“What do you mean, you think so?”

“I mean that if the Terrans were coming to Earth, then chances are, it’s going to be over the Bridge.”

“I see. But to get back to our earlier topic, Theo, what book would you like to read? You said that you liked realistic fiction; in that case I’d recommend a few John Green books, maybe Paper Towns, that book of his has always been one of my absolute favorites. Here,” she says, getting up from behind the desk and coming over to me, where I can now see that she’s about a quarter paw taller than me, “I can show you where those books are if you want to read some of them.”

“Um,” I say, “I’ve actually read that book already, my Papa brought it down to me earlier.”

“Your Papa?” she asks.

“Yes. Tall man with black hair, hairy knuckles. Michael Maranza, that’s him. You would have seen him come in, and he actually borrowed a copy of it for me a few days ago; he’s actually in here with me right now, he found himself a seat over in the reading nook.”

“I see,” she says, and with that, she leads me into the stacks of books, deeper and deeper until we’re nearly to the back As we go, I can see that the spines of the books that we pass look older and more worn, some of them webbed with cracks, others have no back spine whatsoever. When we finally get to the back, she stops and turns to the shelves, the tip of her middle finger questing along the backs of the books, pausing on the names to, if I had to guess, make sure that she can find the book that she’s looking for.

I’d help her find it, except I don’t know the title of the book, and besides, I like surprises.

Not ten seconds later, thankfully, Mrs. Contra pulls a book of of the shelves and hands it to me. “Here, for you, Theo,” she says. “Another personal favorite of mine. Why don’t you take a look and tell me what you think of it, okay?”

“Okay,” I say, turning the book that I’ve been handed over in my paws. 

“Papa,” I say, gesturing with a sweep of my paw towards the chairs that are clustered by the windows across the room from where I’m standing, “would you mind terribly if we sat for a while so I can take a load off my feet and rest for a little bit?”

“Not at all, my kit,” Papa says, giving me a wide grin and nodding as he comes to stand next to me. Smiling, I let my tail curl around his legs to keep him close, and he wraps his arm around me to do the same.

As soon as I sit down, my legs turn to jelly, which, although it’s annoying, is no cause for complaint right now, because I have absolutely no plans to go anywhere for the time being. My legs are too sore from hiking up those stairs, but thankfully, it’s not my ribs that are causing the trouble for me this time. Either or, I have no plans to go anywhere, like I said, Papa, and besides, I have a new book to read, and from the cover illustrations and the rest of the jacket art, it looks like it’s going to be a good one. An Imperial Affliction, the jacket reads, by Peter van Houten.

“What it’s about?” I ask, curious.

“You’ll just have to see,” he says.

“Alright then, but the air in here is making my throat dry out and itch, so before I read, do you happen to know where I might find a water fountain?”

“Unfortunately, Theo,” Papa says, sighing, “I don’t, no, I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting, Theo,” Mrs. Contra says, “but I couldn’t help but to overhear you say that you were thirsty, is that right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say, “that is what I said. Do you happen to know where I might be able to find a water fountain around here?”

“I don’t actually,” she says, sighing. “I’m so rarely off of this floor during the day that I don’t have time to look for any fountains. I’m sorry, Theo, but-

“That’s okay,” I begin, then realize that I cut Mrs. Contra off. “I’m sorry,” I say, “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Sorry if I was rude.”

“Don’t worry about it, Theo,” she says. “What I was going to say was that because I so rarely get any opportunity whatsoever to get out of here, I usually keep a case of water down by my feet. In fact,” she says, getting off of her chair and kneeling down on the floor to root around for something, “I should still have a few bottles left if you’d like a couple.”

“Yes, please!” I say, and then realize with an embarrassed start that everyone’s put their hands over their ears.

“I’m sorry,” I say, trying to be quieter this time, “I didn’t mean to shout that, but yes, to answer your question, I would like a bottle of water, or more than one if you happen to have any extras that you wouldn’t mind sharing.”

“Not at all, Theo, not all all,” she says, taking two out and handing them to me, which I take.  
“Thank you, Mrs. Contra,” I say, twisting the top off of one of the bottles, draining it in four seconds flat at the most, and then doing the same with the other bottle.

“Dang, you must’ve been thirsty,” she says, and I nod, licking my lips and muzzle to get the last drops of water.

“You have no idea,” I say, trying to lick the rest of the water off my muzzle and failing miserably. “The doctors had me NPO, so it was just the IV line for a while there.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Contra says. “So was it okay for you to have water?”

“I would think so,” I say. “I mean, they let me get up and move around, so I don’t think that they’re going to care about me getting a drink of water, seeing as how they haven’t been talking about any surgery to fix my ribs. I mean, they hurt like flock, but they’re healing and I haven’t had any more doctors come in to yammer at me about meds and having to cut me open and yada, yada, yada, yak.”

“What happened to you anyways, Theo? Not to sound rude or anything, because it’s nice to know you, but I’d rather not have had to have met you, at least not like this. You get what I mean, right? I’d rather have met you as a healthy young fox, not as a beat and bludgeoned young fox.”

“I can’t argue with you there, because I would’ve rather not have had my ribs busted in, you know?”

“I do, and I feel awful for you,” she says. “What happened to you, anyways? Somebody take bullying to an extreme?”

“You could say that,” I say, wincing as the memories of those few minutes flash behind my eyes. 

“My principal, my former principal who’s now a jailbird, he decided that he wanted to beat me to pieces. For what, I don’t know. All I know is that I was coming back from getting a textbook from my locker, and the lights were off because it was late after school and most of the teachers had already gone home.

“So anyways, here I am walking down the hallways in the dark, and I don’t know if it was just coincidence or something else wacky like that, but there was only one light left on in the entirety of the building, and it just so happened that that light was right outside of Mister Marlboro’s office, and as if that weren’t creepy enough, he was hiding in those shadows, just outside of the reach of that sole beam of light that was coming down from the ceiling, waiting for me to come by so he could attack me; he grabbed me by my backpack straps and threw me down the hall, and when I was down, he took his steel-toe shoes and drove them into my ribs time and time again until I nearly passed out from the pain.

“By some heavenly act, whether it was from Karma, God, or whoever, he stopped beating me senseless for long enough for me to scramble and cobble together all of the scraps of sense that I had left in me, and I covered up my face,” I say, and I realize that I’ve started to rub the spots on my muzzle where some of Mister Marlboro’s steel-toe kicks managed to slip through the gaps in my paws.

Noticing this, Mrs. Contra puts a soothing paw on my shoulder, and I sigh, trying (successfully this time, thank Karma) to relax. “Are you all okay there, Theo?” she asks, her tone softening.

“Hm?” I ask, and then I realize that I’m still rubbing those spots. “Oh, oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize… yeah, I’m fine, it’s just that I swear, some of those bruises are never going to go away, not for a million years. Anyways, Mister Marlboro, the psycho, he finally stops beating the scat out of me long enough for me to save my face from being completely and totally smashed to scat. After that, I don’t know why, but I’m thankful, eternally thankful, that something took his attention off of me for long enough for me to scramble away, barely conscious and even less alive than I was conscious. After that, I just remember the lights of the ambulance, and then waking up here several days later, about as confused as flock and wondering what I did to deserve such hell.

“Even now, I don’t know, and I’m sick of not knowing, sick of being afraid, so that’s why I came here, to get myself out of my head, and I’m so glad I did. Thank you for the book recommendation, by the way, can I share one of my own?”

“Sure,” she says, “but first, is it English- human, as you said?”

“It is,” I say. “Back before all of this mess started, Terra and Earth had quite the bustling trade economy going between one another, which just makes this whole mess make all the less sense, and human books were some of the most popular trade items out there. Human anything, really, and human culture in part, well, on Terra, that’s something that no Terran can ever get enough of. That’s how I made up for, in some parts, the complete incompetence of my Human Culture teacher, and yet, when I got here on Earth, I found that I was even more out of place than I could have ever thought it was possible to be.

“Anyways, to get back on topic, I would probably have to recommend a book that Terrans call Hombil et Hrair. I think that it was written by a writer who was known as one of the best back on Terra, I think his name would be Richard… Adams? Yeah, Richard Adams in human.”

“So then your book would be called Watership Down in human, if I remember correctly. I don’t know if Mister Adams wrote any other books, but if he did, there aren’t any that are as famous as Watership Down, and I guess that it’s a lot more famous than even I had had thought would be possible. Dang, what evem happened to the relation between our planets, anyways? I mean, that book’s not that old, maybe forty at most, and if what you’re saying is true, Theo, which I don’t doubt, then how could everything have fallen apart so quickly?”

“You’re talking to a fox who lost his parents in a car crash three years before journeying across an entire freaking universe, alone save for the autopilot and lone companion, hoping for better only to have everything go to scat at the point when he most needed everything to go his way for once, so yeah, no, I don’t think that I’m the best mammal to ask. Anything’s fair conversation with me, save for my family, just so you know for the future. Being asked to identify my father in the morgue once is enough, let alone having to think about it and relive that moment even once.

“Geez,” I think, a thought rushing through my head like one of Terra’s summer thunderstorms, “I really am a flocking ball of nerves, aren’t I?”

“You don’t want me to answer that, my kit,” Papa says, and I can see his ‘yes, you are’ in his eyes. Instead of letting myself get down this time, though, I’m going to try to look on the bright side, and thankfully, there’s tons of light streaming in through the windows across the library from the nook in which we’re sitting, so that shouldn’t be too hard. I don’t know why I’ve been feeling so off for the last several days, because it makes no sense. Mood swings galore, I can’t seem to get out of my head….

Yeah, it’s not fun. And, as much as I try not to think about it, I’ve been, in the moments when my mind has been wandering, caught myself wondering what it would be like to plant a soft kiss right on the end of Jenna’s snout, right on the end of her nose.

“Papa?” I ask, deciding to get the question out of the way before I can let myself fret about it, “why do you think that my mood’s been so wacky for the last week? I don’t understand, and I’m a stressed-out mess…”

“I don’t know, my kit,” Papa says, “but I have an idea. When do foxes usually hit adolescence?”

“What does ad-o-less-scents mean, Papa?”

“It means the time when children start to become adults. They start to grow up, their bodies start to mess with them, they can’t keep their thoughts clean. Any of that going on in that brain of yours?”

I don’t say anything, but I’m sure that the look in my eyes that I give Papa is answer enough.

“I see,” he says. “That’s nothing to be afraid of, Theo, it just means that you’re growing into a full adult is all.”

“Oh, okay,” I say. “So that means that,” I drop my voice to a whisper, “me thinking about wanting to keep kissing Jenna for forever and never let go?”

“That’s normal,” Papa says, slightly louder this time; just barely loud enough for everyone to hear what he said.

“Good,” I say. “I had myself worried for a moment there.”

“I can see that,” Papa says, giving me a weary smile. “Don’t fret, Theo, you do enough worrying in your own brain for most of the people in this hospital.”

“It’s not good for you,” Mrs. Contra says. “Believe me, I know. I was an emergency room nurse for over a decade before I signed on to this position in the library. I started when I was a little over twenty, maybe twenty-one, twenty-two, and I worked down there for what felt like several lifetimes, what with all the stress, the trauma and adrenaline that was always rushing through us in torrents. I loved it, loved the stress. I know that it probably sounds a little loopy, but my life back at home, before I went into the real world, was much, much, much too plain. I had nothing to do, all of my days mostly consisted of sitting on the couch, tapping away on a word processor and seeing what stories I could pull out of my head. I know that it probably sounds entertaining, but when your brain can only come up with ten versions of the same story, you know that it’s time for a career change.”

“Well, it certainly seems a heck of a lot more mundane than what I’m used to dealing with,” I say. Believe you me, my life has been way too exciting, and I get the feeling that it’s only going to get more so as time goes on, and I can’t help but feel like something’s going to happen.”

“A sense of impending disaster?”

“Exactly.”


	6. Chapter Six: Natural Canine Curiosity

Chapter Six: Natural Canine Curiosity

A week and a half's gone by since my visit to the library, and with every day, I've grown stronger, thankfully. My ribs have stopped aching, I can walk on my own, and my thoughts have just been getting wilder. I've been finding that my thoughts keep drifting, and I can't stop thinking about how it would feel to plant kiss after kiss on the end of Jenna's nose…

 _Gah!_   _Stop it!_  I chide myself, feeling a blush light up my cheeks and hoping, praying that it doesn't show  _too_ badly. That would be way too embarrassing, and with all of these thoughts that have suddenly decided to come rushing through my head, well, that would just make things even worse than they already are. There have been  _way_ too many times over the course of the last several days where I've realized that my thoughts are drifting, and I've had to make myself think more cleanly.

Speaking of cleaning, the construction crew that was outside when I was in the library is still at work, though I've heard the higher-ups talking amongst themselves, talking about how it was taking forever but the project was almost done, thank goodness and God in heaven; thank Karma too, because the constant clanging and banging form outside at all hours of the day and night was kinda starting to drive me a little loopy. I think the human expression for it is "being driven up the walls?' I don't know, but I'm glad to be feeling better. The invaders, whoever they are, haven't sent any more fleets of ships.

Thank goodness.

The hospital's scientists and lab techs tested the material of the object that crashed into the side of the hospital, and they asked Alaina and I if either of us recognized it or found its chemical makeup, and I thought that were were going to be able to figure out what it was, but neither of us could anything out.

They've been looking for a match for the stuff ever since, but as far as I know, they haven't been having any luck there.

As the days have gone by, I've been finding myself becoming ever more curious, and I can't say that that's so much a bad thing or that it's something that I've never felt before, an incredibly strong urge to go exploring and figure out what everything is and what it does.

It kinda freaks me out, having this curiosity be so strong. Maybe it's hormones, like Mama was thinking, maybe it's just a side effect of having repressed those instincts for almost as long as I was alive, ever since I climbed aboard for the Venturing Program.

I don't even know how long it's been, seeing as time passes so much more quickly on Terra than it does here on Earth.

About that- although time passes more quickly on Terra than it does on Earth, I don't feel like I'm aging any more quickly than a human would. Add that to the list of "Things Theo Doesn't Need To Worry About Anymore," just like most other things that I've been afraid of.

Although Mama and Papa (and everyone else) will never find out, I'm still terrified of the vacuum. We didn't have them back on Terra, and when I first heard that thing's whirr when one of the maintenance people came in to clean the carpet in my room, well, I thought it was a monster and I hid under the covers.

It wasn't until I heard everyone laughing softly from outside my blanket nest that I dared peek my head out, and then I couldn't help but to laugh at me, too, but that doesn't make the darn things any less scary. Now that I know what they are, it's not so much the noise that's the real issue so much as the volume.

Fox ears (and wolf ears too, judging from how everyone winced the next time the vacuum came through) are rather sensitive, and when one of those things comes along, the noise that makes feels like someone's driving an ice pick through my eardrums.

In other words, it hurts like flock, but in a more positive light, I'm up on my own two paws, and I'm getting stronger again. I'm getting taller, too, I've grown about an eighth of a paw, or about half an inch, in the last month, with about a quarter inch over the course of the last week.

Thankfully, my voice hasn't started to crack yet, like Mama says it will eventually. I'm  _really_  not looking forward to that, but I appreciate that I'm growing up. The prospect of being an adult kinda scares me, seeing as how I don't know what to expect, I don't have any parents that I could look to, and the only 'parents' that I have left aren't even the same species as me.

 _I wonder if Jenna feels the same way about me,_ I muse as I sit in the library once again. The power's back on, but there's still work to be done, and I'm sure that I'm going to have a scat-ton of homework that I'll have to deal with when I go back to school.

Speaking of school, most of my classmates have dropped in over the course of the last week to see me, and they've told me that Mister Marlboro managed to escape from the back of the transport truck on his way to prison, and I can only hope that whoever he's on the run from manages to catch him quickly, because I don't want to have my ribs busted in again.

On a more positive note, though, the doctors  _have_ been saying that I should be clear to leave the hospital pending two or three weeks of torture.

Oh, wait, that's not the right word. What's the one that I'm looking for?

Oh, yeah, it's PT. I've heard plenty of stories from all of the other patients on my floor, and even ones from across the hospital. I guess that, even though Earth and Terra are technically at war, the humans' curiosity about Terrans, like us Terrans' curiosity about humans, knows no bounds, because I keep getting mobbed by little kids who are enamored with this fox. I may only be seventeen paws tall, which is rather short for a fox (most of us are eighteen or nineteen paws tall), but the kids look up to me like I'm enormous, and they try to climb on my legs or maybe pull my tail (which hurts like flock, for the general advisement of anyone who might be tempted to try it).

It's certainly different than I'm used to dealing with, both at home on Terra and here on Earth. On Terra, most mammals only pay us foxes a grudging dreg of respect, and that's only because the law forces everyone to be 'decent' to each other, whatever the flock that's supposed to mean, because I'm certainly not used to getting any so-called 'respect.'

But anyway, to get back on topic, I'm used to either being feared, like is the case by most humans that I've run into here on Earth, or here in the hospital, I'm used to the younger kids just staring at me as I pass them by in the hallways, as if they can't believe that I'm a real, live creature and not a figment out of some movie.

As much as it's odd to be adored, I have to admit, even if it's only to myself, that I like having people around who are curious about me (and yes, sometimes they can get a little rough, i.e, the black I that I have from when one kid slipped on the tile floor after trying to pet my ears and then jammed the nook of her arm right into my eye), but that's better than having crazy people after me who just want me dead.

Ah, well, just another day in the life of your average Terran  _vulpes vulpes_.

Oh, and lest I forget to mention it, Jenna seems to like me back, which certainly helps me relax, although I don't really understand why that would matter.

I've also been given a job of sorts in the library; one where I help reshelve the books at the end of the day, maybe read to the kids in the ICU, and I have to say that I'm quite enjoying all of the time that I spend doing both of those things.

I never thought that I would enjoy being stuck in this hospital, but as long as I have the company of friends who I can quite literally curl up with, as well as enough books to read, well, then I'm happy. I'm not happy that my planet is at war, and speaking of that, I haven't heard anything more from the TV or from the newspaper, from any news source at all about the invasion. It's almost as if it never happened, and it's making me question what the flock I'm doing here.

As I think that, my mind flashes back to the skit that the bunch of us were trying to write up the day I got beaten to a furry pulp, and in particular, Isaac's joking question about where he could find a pretty girl, because it was that time of year, you know.

Winter's starting to set in, with October coming in creeping in to herald, and I know that Isaac's right, that winter is mating season for us foxes.

_Oh, dear._

Have my hormones really gone that far out of whack for me to start picturing Jenna like that?

_Clean thoughts, Theo, clean thoughts clean thoughts clean thoughts._

Speaking of finding things to do, Mama found the rec room down the hall from my room, and she was just plain delighted to discover that there was a piano inside that she could use, maybe teach me how to play myself.

That was what she asked me a week ago, and I decided that I would take her up on her offer, so I've been learning my scales and how to play some basic songs, and I have to admit that playing the piano is a great way for me to get out of my head.

Speaking of playing the piano, that's exactly what I'm doing right now. Mama's sitting right next to my on the bench, her fingers guiding mine over the keys. I'm enjoying it more than I ever thought that I would, but, well, you can't enjoy something if you don't know anything about it. Yes, we had keyboards back on Terra, but but nothing quite like this.

It's funny thinking about the fact that our two planets were originally the same, considering how different from each other they now are, and I've been thinking about the end of my exchange.

I know that I still have several months until I have to go home, but even though I've managed to land myself here in the hospital, despite all of the trouble and flocking scat that I've had to deal with over the course of the time that I've been on Earth, I don't really know if I really want to go home. I don't know what that would be like, seeing as the war's still on, and well, I don't know what the invaders are after, let alone who they are.

Back to more pleasant topics, though: Mama's been teaching me to play the piano, and I have to say that I'm slowly getting the hang of it, but I keep getting my bass clef all mixed up. It's odd to me that I can't keep that paw doing what it's supposed to when I'm a southpaw, but it is what it is, and well, I'm going to have to settle for the pleasant things in life, like waking up every morning with an adorable vixen sleeping on top of me. She's been doing that since I got here, and I don't know why, but I'm not going to complain.

She'd probably have my hide if I ever told her that I thought that she was cute, and no, although that term, to have someone's hide, is usually an expression, but knowing Jenna, she doesn't mean that figuratively, she means it about as literally as it would be possible to be and me not be dead.

Okay, talking about dead foxes? Yeah, I thought that that train of thought was going to be a little more positive than it turned out to be.

Oh, well, I suppose. I'm glad that, at the very least, I'm managing to get some semblance of control exerted back over my life.

Speaking of control, I can see that Jenna's wondering what I'm doing, and I'll bet a bunch that she thinks that I've gone and gotten my thoughts lost in space again, but she'll be surprised when-

_Peck!_

I plant a small kiss on her cheek, and her entire face lights up bright red under her silver fur.

"T-Theo," she sputters, "did you just do what I think you just did?"

"What? What do you mean?" I ask, looking up at the ceiling and feigning innocence. "I didn't do anything, I'm a good fox, I'm innocent."

"Innocent my tail," she says, grinning wildly now and giving me an overly enthusiastic chuck on the shoulder. "But you're in luck," she continues, her smile growing even larger. "I like bad boys."

With that, she returns my peck on the cheek with a full-on kiss, and by this point, Mama's starting to pay attention.

"Oh, I see you've found yourself a girl, have you now Theo?" she asks, and all I can do in response is sputter, which only goes to embarass me more.

"Why, Mama?" I groan, head between my paws. "I've got enough going in my head to overwhelm me, let alone trying to think about, well, you get it, right?"

Instead of letting Mama answer, Jenna plants another kiss on me, but this time, it's full on the lips, and I find myself kissing back, my tail slowly starting to wag.

"Wow," I say, my brain trying to make even a lick (no pun intended) of sense out of what happened. "That was wonderful, Jenna."

"So do you want to try again and see if it's as wonderful a third time around?"

Before she can answer, though, Isaac's voice calls out to us from the circle of plush chairs behind us. "Are you guys going to get a room or what?"

"I won't argue with that," I say. "So are you going to come along with me, Jenna?" I ask, hoping she'll catch on to the smile in my eyes.

Luckily for this tod, she does, and comes up to me. "Let's go," she says, putting a paw around my shoulder and her tail around the bases of my legs.

Now, I may not be the most 'experienced' fox when it comes to romance, per se, and I know that I'm not the most socially competent bulb in the socket, but I'm no stranger to animal social cues, and from how Jenna smells right now, she's awfully excited, and I get the feeling that she's been dealing with the same things that I have been, only for longer and a heck of a lot worse.

In other words, she  _really_  wants me around right now, and the more time that I've been spending around her, the more that I've been having those certain unmentionable thoughts.

"Jenna?" I ask her, trying to break the silence between us that's stretched on for the last few minutes as we've made our way back to my room, and now that we're finally there, I think it's safe.

"Yes, Theo?" she asks me, her smile still as broad as ever. "You want to ask me something?"

"Um, yes, um…" I stutter, tripping over my tongue and trying not to feel foolish for it. "Um, well," I continue, "would you be willing to be my friend? And I don't just mean like we are now, no, not that kind of friend. Would you be willing to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, of course I would," she says, closing the door behind us, because I somehow managed to leave the darn thing cracked open a teensy, tiny bit. "Why did you wait so long to ask, Theo? I could see it in your eyes this whole time that you wanted to ask me that very same question, so why? I would've said yes, I'm sure you could see the same thing in me, too…"

"I don't know, Jenna," I say, feeling slightly… I don't know… confused? Insecure, maybe? as I put a paw behind the ears that have once again flattened themselves backwards on my head. "I just don't know. I don't know very many girls, and certainly not any like you."

"Not even Alaina?" she asks. "But haven't you two been partners (and friends, so I thought) since you two were both a lot younger?"

"Well, yeah," I say, "we  _have_  been friends since forever, but she's always been the more logical one out of the two of us, you know? I'm the wildly emotional one, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Oh, I noticed," she says, "I noticed plenty, but, and I'm sure that you've probably had this blasted at you plenty of times, but you don't need to worry that much. It's not good for your health."

"Alright, so then why even worry about it?"

"I don't know," she says, her smile quivering and slipping slightly. "I was just trying to help."

"Thank you very much," I say. "Random question for you, by the way."

"Yes?" she asks, her left eyebrow perking up. "What's your question, Theo?"

"Can we keep kissing?"

"I don't mind, Theo, so as long as you don't," she says. "I have a question for you, too."

"Fire away," I say.

"Can I mark you?"

"Mark me?" I ask, surprised. "But I thought that only mates did that, don't they?"

"Yeah," she says, "it  _is_  usually done between mates, but I want everyone to know that we're together."

"That's fair," I say. "You first."

"Okay," she says, and with that, she swipes the bottom of her chin across the top of my head, letting anyone else out there know that we're with one another.

"Now your turn," she says, and I take my own chin and swipe it across the top of her head and ears, and we share another kiss.

"Thank you, Theo," she says, smiling as we share another kiss. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

"You're very welcome, Jenna," I say. "So now or later?" I ask, and I know from the look in her eyes that she gets what I mean.

"Not now," she says, "I hear people coming down the hallway, and are your ribs still hurting you?"

"Thankfully no, Jenna," I say, and thank you, thank you very much."

"You're welcome," she says, winking and getting off of the chair in which I'm sitting right as the rest of the rest of the group comes in, Papa opening the door and closing it quickly behind him once everyone's through.

"All good here?" he asks, a knowing smile on his face. "Nothing terrible happening, is there?"

"Not as far as I know of, Papa," I say.

I don't know if any of the humans can figure out what was going on in here from the smell, but I'm sure that all of the mammals in the room can. Whether they'll ask about it remains to be seen, but I'm sincerely hoping and praying that no mammal brings up the topic.

Thankfully, no one does, and everyone settles into their usual spots, save for me. I stay right where I have been, and no one asks me to move, for which I'm rather grateful. I don't know if I would be able to move from how soft and jelly-like my legs have gone at the thought of having a girlfriend, and not just a girl who is my friend, but an actual living, breathing girlfriend without a space in the middle.

Now just to figure out how we're going to break the news.

I can't help but wonder how and when that's going to happen, but I'm sure that it'll happen eventually, just like the end of this mess: both the mess that involves me being stuck in the hospital as well as the mess that is an intra-universal war.

I've been doing my reading, too, and I haven't had anybody bring in any work that I need to do for school. I don't know if there just hasn't been any (which I really well and truly doubt) or if each and every one of my teachers is holding off on giving me homework, and I can only imagine what they must think of me.

Then again, who cares? It's neither my job nor my place to care what other people say about me, yet weirdly enough, it  _is_  my job to care what they think about me.

I wonder what I'll do when I manage to get the flock out of here. Kissing Jenna a lot, well, yeah, that's going to happen anyways, and from the look that she's getting in her eyes, she wants another kiss, and who am I to argue with a vixen?

If I think that I could argue with a vixen and win, especially this one, I think that it would probably be in my best interest to go get my head checked out, as I've heard some humans say to each other. Granted, I get that they were joking, but that took several months on this planet to figure out.

Anyways, as I was saying, I've learned through experience that it's best to let a vixen decide what happens. Arguing isn't a smart choice, although politely suggesting things is.

Who knew that manners were so important?

(Pun absolutely intended.)

"Theo, why are you staring off into space again?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry," I say, feeling sheepish for getting lost in my own thoughts again. "Did you want something, Jenna?"

"Why yes, Theo," she says, batting her eyelashes, "I do."

"I see," I say, smiling. "Would that something happen to be another kiss?"

"Gee, how did you know?" she asks, smiling as she puts a gentle paw on my chest, and I feel my heart skip a beat or three.

"I don't know," I say, "but what I  _do_  know is that-"

"That wha-?" she begins to ask, but she can't finish as I plant another kiss full on her lips.

"I love you, Jenna," I say. "Thank you, thank you so very much."

"You're welcome, Jenna," I say. "So what should we be doing now? I have plenty of free time, seeing as I'm kinda stuck here for a little while longer, so what do you want to do with all of it?"

"How about," she says, getting up off of of the side of the bed, "you get up for a sec, Theo, and I can play you a song on the piano? I mean, I know that it's going to be a little effort, but can you do it?"

"I can," I say, taking her proffered paw and pulling myself up to my feet, and then I notice something interesting about it. All predator mammals are born with claws, and Terrans are no exception, but Jenna doesn't have any.

"What is it?" she asks, obviously wondering why I haven't let go of her paw. "Do you need help getting up, Theo?"

"Would you mind sitting back down here with me, Jenna?"

"Oh-kay…," she says, and I can tell that she's confused. "What is it, Theo? Why haven't you let go of my paw? Are you okay?"

"No, Jenna, sweetheart, I'm not okay. Here's what I'm wondering: why don't you have any claws? Were you not born with any or something?"

"No, Theo," she says, her voice cracking slightly as tears start to well in the corners of her eyes and overflow, leaving wet tracks down the side of her muzzle, and my heart cracks.

"What is it, Jenna?" I ask, taking her in a hug and licking away the tears, not caring about the salt. "Why are you crying?"

"Do you really want to know why I don't have any claws?" she asks, sniffling. I nod softly, and she continues. "Do you know what declawing means?"

When I shake my head no, her saddened look grows into a frown, and she puts one of those 'declawed' paws on my shoulder. "Do you remember the story my Mom was telling everyone about how she was in the orphanage that one day and ended up adopting Isaac and I?"

"Yeah, I do," I say, shivering at the thought for a reason that I can't seem to explain. "Why?"

"Well, it turned out that that guy who was in charge of the place was two things that, when mixed together in just the right amounts, turn into a rather dangerous cocktail."

"And those things are?"

"Alcohol and an internal sense that he had to uphold the law, no matter the cost."

"What does the law have to do with anything?"

"Theo, you do realize that I'm an animal, right?"

"Well, yeah," I say, "why wouldn't I?"

"Well, technically, even though we weren't pets, state law says that all animals that are up for adoption have to be declawed before they can leave the shelter, or in our case, the orphanage, and so it was."

"And wha- what does the alcohol have to do with this whole cocktail. I swear, no pun intended," I manage to choke out, tears streaming down my muzzle now too.

Before I can get my own tears, Jenna repays the favor, using her tongue to clean up the cold beads of water that are at the end of my nose, hanging there and tickling.

"Jenna, that tickles," I laugh, and then my nose starts to itch, and before I can stop it, I've sneezed all over both of us.

"Sorry," I say, smiling sheepishly, my paw returning to its instinctive place behind my ears.

"Don't worry about it," Jenna says, using the spare corner of one of the blankets to wipe her eyes clear of another set of puddle tears.

"Don't worry about it?" I sputter, nearly choking on my own tongue. "How am I supposed to just let that slide? As far as I'm concerned, that's cruel beyond belief, cutting someone's claws out like that."

"Well, Theo," she says, her smile growing even sadder, sadder than I ever thought could be possible on a face like hers, but I guess it is if hers is anything to go off of, "I'm really sorry to have to say this, then, but since we're telling each other the whole truths, but usually they knock mammals out when they do something like that. I've seen it done on cats before, and they always put them under. In my case, though, and my brother's, too?"

"Let me guess," I wince as two sharp lances of pain shoot through my fingers and up my arms, "no anaesthesia?"

"No anaesthesia," she says. "Just a handful of ibuprofen, a tall glass of water, me, and the doctors.

"It hurt like fuck, pardon my language, but I would rather be shot through the chest five times than have to go through that fucking hell again. Do you want to know what it felt like?"

"What did it feel like?" I ask, feeling an icy fist of dread settle right in, nice and cozy, into the pit of my stomach.

"Let me see," she says, fighting (and succeeding, thankfully) to contain her rage. "Could you imagine what it would feel like to have somebody split the ends of your fingers open and then cut the ends off, all while you could still feel it, because your body was so freaking on edge, so flocking scared of what was going on that you could feel it all and yet couldn't move because your hands, sorry,  _paws_ , were strapped down."

Instead of saying anything, I gulp, and I find my tail starting to creep its way around Jenna again, and instead of pushing it off of her, like I was kinda afraid that she would, she takes it and wraps it the rest of the way around her chest, and then she starts to stroke it, like I imagine you would for a cat or a dog or some furred pet.

All I know is that I've never had anyone do this for me, and I don't think that I ever want Jenna to stop.

Maybe she could just keep on doing this for forever and ever and ever, but I think that both out us are bound to fall asleep before forever gets anywhere near us.

"Jenna," I say, a purr coming out before I can stop it, "would you like me to do the same for you?"

"I'd like that very much," she says, flicking her tail out from underneath her and twitching its silver entirety towards me.

I snag it and hold it in my lap, marvelling at how smooth her fur is and how shiny the fur is. Had I not known better, I would have thought that her fur, and her tail fur in particular, was pure silver from how shiny it is. My own fur used to be a lot-

Okay, I really can't think, not with all the attention that my tail's getting. It feels wonderful to get the kind of attention I am, and I'm trying my darn hardest not to purr, but it keeps getting harder and harder as-

"Theo, what was thar?" Jenna asks, taken aback for a second. "Were you growling at me?"

"No, no, no I wasn't, Jenna," I say, trying to limit the damage.

"Then what was it? I've never heard anything like it."

"You didn't know that foxes could purr?" I ask.

"Is that what that was?"

"Uh-huh," I say. "Yeah, it was."

"Well, don't be embarrassed by it, Theo, I think it's adorable. Where can I scratch to get you to do it again?"

"I'm not telling," I say, sticking out my tongue like a little kit.

"Fine," she says. "Then I'm just have to guess."

With that, she puts a paw on the underside of my chin, and try as I might, I can't stop myself from purring.

 _You know what?_  I think,  _I actually don't mind this._

"You're awfully adorable, you know that, right?" Jenna says, smiling at me.

"I am?" I ask, feeling a soft warm glow seep into my chest. "You know, not a single mammal has said that to me before, not once. Not my family, not my parents, not anyone, and no, well, not to sound cliche or anything like that, but I'm awfully glad that you're the first, Jenna."

"Why would no one have ever told you that you were loved, Theo, not once in fifteen years?"

"Well," I say, "it's kinda hard when you're nothing like any of your family, and the people who you're probably the least similar to in the entire world is your parents, of all mammals."

"Yeah," Jenna says, sighing, "I can appreciate that. I mean, I'm nothing like the rest of my family either."

"Yeah, well, that's different," I say, laughing. "You have an excuse, you're a completely different species than the rest of your family, save for your brother. Random question, is Isaac your biological brother, or were you to just dumped at the orphanage together?"

"Quite honestly," she says, "I don't know, but I'm willing to wager on the first answer of the two, because how often do Terran orphans get sent to Earth, anyway?"

"Quite honestly myself," I say, "I don't know, but you're looking at one, and Alaina's another."

"I thought you said that you had only lost one parent, your dad."

"That was the case up until a few days ago, and with the war going on, well, even though I haven't heard anything official, per se, it's a fairly safe bet that my mom is dead, too, after all, you remember how they send us foxes to the front lines to be used as fodder, right?"

"I do. If I had to guess about why Isaac or I ended up on Earth, I can only guess that there was some kind soul on Terra that had a place for us lined up. I know that this is going to sound crazy to believe, Theo, but you're just going to have to. I'm thankful to that orphanage owner for agreeing to take us in and not just having us dumped on the streets to fend for ourselves. God only knows what would have happened if he had refused to take us."

"You're right, Jenna," I say, "I can't quite say that you sound sane saying what you said, but I know you, you're not crazy, and I have to say that I love you even more for telling me that."

"You do?" she asks, smiling. "Thank you, Theo, thank you so very much."

"You're more than welcome, Jenna," I say, slipping in another kiss to to her cheek. You know, I never thought that I was going to be the affectionate kind of tod, but here I am, with my hormones running crazy and a girlfriend.

"Despite the whole 'being stuck in the hospital bit,' I don't think that I would change anything about how my life is going at the moment, Jenna," I continue. "I really don't know what to do with myself anymore. I'm so used to having to fight hard for everything, and yeah, I had to fight for my life, but I'm appreciating the opportunity to take a load off and let my life take me wherever it wants me to be."

"As am I," Jenna says. "I have a question for you, Theo, well, two questions, actually. First, what's today? and second, when's your birthday?"

"I don't know what the date is anymore," I say. "It's too much work to keep track, and when the days all kinda blur together anyways, it's a rather pointless waste of time, and as for my birthday? December twenty-sixth. The day after Christmouse, at least on Terra. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just curious," she says. "I'm kinda losing track of the time myself. So it's not just me then?"

"No," I say, getting up off of the bed (without anyone's help, hooray!) and going to the window. "So what should we do now?"

"Random question," she says. "I know, I'm full of them, I hope you don't mind."

"Why would I ever mind?" I ask. "Jenna, I love you for you, so don't feel like you have to be ashamed to be yourself."

"Okay, then don't worry about it," she says, pulling a case out of her back pocket. It's long and black, with block print embossed on its outside.

"What are those?" I ask. "I don't think that I've ever seen a case like that."

"Terrans don't wear glasses?" she asks, taking the case and opening it. Sure enough, a pair of glasses rests inside, their bronze frames glinting under the glare of the hospital's artificial white lighting.

"Not that I know of," I say, "but then again, I'm probably not the best mammal to ask, because I had to have even better than normal vision to even be considered for the Venturing program."

"Oh," she says. "So are you going to think I'm weird for wearing them?"

"Jenna,  _why_  would I think that? Besides, if there's any one mammal out of all of us who probably deserves to be called weird, it would be your neighborhood socially awkward fox."

"You have a point there, Theo," she says, and I can see her smiling brightly. "Here," she says, getting up off of the bed, "why don't we both get ourselves some exercise?"

"That sounds fair," I say. I know I need it, I can see that I've already lost plenty of muscle on my legs, and if I'm going to have any hope of walking properly again, I'm going to need to learn how to.

Thankfully, I start my PT sessions tomorrow, and although I know that it's supposedly torture, I'm actually looking forward to them. I mentioned that particular fact to Isaac a few days ago, and he looked at me like I had two heads, and then asked me how I would be able to deal with such pain.

Speaking of that, he still hasn't said anything to his mother about what he told me, and I'm starting to feel doubtful that he ever will. I don't want him to keep on going through life, living each day with that pain of that one secret hidden away, although it's hidden in plain sight.

But I'm getting lost in my thoughts again, like I always manage to do when I'm feeling riled up about something.

Before I can break myself out of my thoughts, though, Nurse Dawson comes in with a tray of food.

"Lunch time already?" I ask, pointing at the tray. "But I could've sworn that it was only something like ten after eleven in the morning. Have we really been talking for that long?"

"I'm going to guess that the answer is yes," Nurse Dawson says, smiling and pulling another tray of food out from a lower level of the cart where I couldn't see it before.

"Your mom ordered a lunch for you as well, Miss Neve," Nurse Dawson says, now holding the tray in her two hands. "Where would you like me to set it?"

"Is right on my lap okay?" she asks, and the nurse nods.

"It is," she says, "but just be careful with it, okay? There's a bowl of hot soup on there, and I don't need either of you ending up in the hospital for any longer than you need to be."

With that, she places Jenna's tray on her lap, and after asking me where I want mine (same as her, I say), places my tray on my lap as well.

"Speaking of that, Nurse Dawson," I ask, "do you know how much longer it's going to be until I can get out of here?"

She sighs and looks at me glumly. "Unfortunately, Theo," she says, the frustration that she's feeling evident in her tone, "nobody tells me anything around here. Have you ever played telephone?"

"No," I say, "I haven't. What is it?"

"It's a game that my friends and I used to play when we were little kids, maybe twenty or thirty years ago now, where one person would come up with a message and then whisper it into the ear of the person next to them, who would whisper it into the ear of the next person, and so on and so forth until the message reached the end of the line, and by that time, the message had always changed rather dramatically."

"So let me guess," I say, "the hospital chain of communication is garbage, and the message that one person gets might be the complete opposite of what the message was originally supposed to mean."

"Exactly, Theo, exactly," Nurse Dawson says, "and I've been dealing with it for as long as I've lived here."

"Lived here?" I ask, confused. "But I thought you only worked here."

"What that means, Theo," Nurse Dawson says, "is that I spend nearly every single ounce of my time, whether that be the time I'm working or my rather scarce free time, right here on this very floor. In fact, I don't think that I've actually been home and seen the inside if my actual home for more than four hours in a row in the last two and a half months, and probably even longer than that."

"Sheesh," I whistle, "and I thought that  _I_  was the one who got it bad being stuck here. When was the last time you actually sat down for a meal?"

"I don't know, actually," Nurse Dawson says, frowning slightly at that revelation. "Isn't that awful? I really don't remember the last time that I actually had time to stop and sit down and enjoy my lunch."

"Yeah, it is awful," I say, nodding in agreement. "Here, why don't you have my lunch, I don't mind sharing."

"No, Theo," she says, waving my proffered tray away, "I won't take your food away from you. You need the energy more than I do."

"But-," I protest, but she refuses to hear any more of it. "I'll get myself food when I have the chance to, now don't you worry about it. Eat up."

Sighing inwardly, I lift the top of the tray, and Jenna does as well, and a delectable combination of smells hits my nose: roast turkey, gravy, stuffing… all of the things that I love to eat the most.

"Thank you, Nurse Dawson," I say, looking for silverware but finding none anywhere to be seen.

"Oh, okay. So where am I going to find silverware?" Alaina says, having apparently figured out the same thing that I have.

"Did I forget to bring some with me?" she asks. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yep, you did," Jenna says, smiling sillily. "Don't worry about it, just tell us where we can find some and we'll take care of it."

"But it's supposed to be my job," Nurse Dawson says.

"I know," I say, "but I need an excuse to get out of this bed some more."

"I see," she says. "Well, in that case, you'll find silverware in the supply room, which is down the hall and to the left, third door on the right paw side."

"Got it," I say, getting up off of the bed, my ribs hurting just a little as I get up, little enough that I can ignore the pain. "Down and to the left, third door on the right. Down and to the left, third door on the right, down and to the left, third door on the right," I repeat to myself, because I know that I'll probably forget where I'm going if I don't.

Jenna follows me, and we go look for the nurse's supply room. When we get there, though, there's a nurse already inside, and I don't think that she can hear us, seeing as how she has earbuds in.

"Pardon me," I say, tapping her on the shoulder, and when she doesn't react, I tap her lightly on the shoulder, hoping that this one will get her attention, and it does, though it's not the kind of attention I want nor was hoping for. When the nurse sees us, she blinks once, then again, and then screams.

"Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh! A fox! A fox and a wolf in the hospital! Someone call security! There's Terrans in the building! Help! Help!"

"Please be quiet, ma'am, please," I plead with her. "Please, we just want to know where we can find silverware. Please, don't scream any more, it's hurting my ears. I have them too, and they're kinda hurting right now…"

"Who- wha- what are you? Are you invaders? Did you come to kill me? I didn't do anything, I swear. I have a husband and kids, please don't kill me."

"All this for two pairs of silverware?" I ask, my ears still ringing from her scream.

"Wha? What do you mean, for two pairs of silverware? Are you going to eat me? Is that why you need the silverware?"

"NO," I say, then realizing I was too loud, "Sorry. No, we're not here to eat you, why would we be?"

"Aren't all Terrans vicious beasts? I mean, that's all the news is saying. 'Terra invades Earth,' the newspapers say. 'Hide your children,' they say, 'the Terrans are going to come and eat them.' So are you going to eat me or not?" the nurse asks, hands still over her eyes are she trembles in what I can only assume is pretty pure terror.

"What part of 'we're not here to eat you' turns into 'we're going to eat you?'"

"But- but-," she says, fear still glinting in her eyes, though not as brightly as before, then she sighs. "I don't know, I really don't. You're what, two foxes, right?"

"Right. And technically, we're both red foxes, but genetics made Jenna's fur silver. I'm Theo, by the way, Theo Aspen."

"Emily," the nurse says, uncovering her eyes. "So are you Terrans, and if you are, how can it be that you're not here to invade Earth?"

"Yes, we are Terrans, Emily," I say, "but we're exchange students, not advance invasion forces or anything like that. Let me guess," I say, putting a finger to my forehead like I'm deep in thought, "you think, or were thinking that Alaina and I were here to take over and kill you, is that right? Of course," I say to myself, "it wasn't that hard to figure out."

"Can you blame me?" Emily says, taking her hands completely off of her eyes now? A week and a few days after Terra declares war on Earth, two sentient foxes come looking for me, and with all of the new coverage, like I said, what else was I supposed to expect? I was half-thinking that one would creep up on me and then, before I had time to react, kill me."

"Yech, gruesome," I say. "Pardon me for asking then, but just what were you expecting us to look like? Hideous beasts with red eyes and blood and gore hanging from rows of sharp fangs?"

"Um… yes," Emily says, wincing in embarrassment. "Is that a bad thing?"

"I don't know, if you want my honest opinion. I haven't really had the time to get used to people freaking out when they see me. Let me guess, it's the smile?"

"Yeah, actually," she says, brushing her hair to try and flatten the spare strands of hair that have sprung up all around her head.

"Well, I'm sorry for scaring you. Can we start again? I'm Theo Aspen."

"Emily Peters," she says. "So you said that you and your friend here were exchange students here on Earth?"

"I did. So what do you do here at the hospital?"

"Oh," Emily sighs. "Right now, since I'm new here, I'm stuck on all of the night shifts, and I'm just trying to catch up on all of the sleep that I've lost over the course of the last week. You know, there's  _waaay_  too much stuff that nobody ever bothers to tell you when you're in med school, and one thing that I'm really figuring out is that nurses, particularly the RNs like me usually pull twelve-hour shifts. Luck for me, that's only three or four days a week. Only problem is that humans are built to be up when the sun is, not the other way around."

"That's gotta be annoying," she says. "So what were you looking for when I freaked out?"

"Silverware, actually. Do you happen to know where I could find some sets?"

"Right in the drawer behind me, actually," Emily says, pulling it open and taking out two napkin-wrapped sets of silverware and handing them to me.

"Here," she says, letting go. "If it's alright, could I come with you both back to your room?"

"Sure, but why?" I ask. "I mean, not that I mind, do you, Jenna?"

"No, I don't mind," she says. "So will you show me to where we're going?"

"Sure," Jenna says, taking Emily's hand in her paw and guiding her along back to our room, leaving me to follow them.

Once we're back, we find the rest of our little company has gathered in, and they've all looked up at the click of the doorknob.

"Hi everyone," Emily says, giving a small wave of her hand to everyone. "I'm Emily. I heard you guys were here and I thought that I should come say hi."

"Hi, Emily," Isaac says, "I'm Isaac, and this," he says, gesturing to Jenna, "is my sister, Jenna, though I suppose you've already met her."

"I have, but I didn't get your name earlier. You're Jenna?" she asks her.

"I am," she says, sticking her tongue out at her brother. "You hang around us for long enough and you'll learn that we're goofballs here."

"Speak for yourself, Jenna," I say. "I thought that the job of 'crazy screwball' was supposed to be mine."

"Yeah, well, it's done and over with, Theo," Alaina says. "I'm Alaina Lupa, by the way, and no, I'm not Theo's sister. I am one of his friends, though. We grew up together and came here together."

"It sounds like you guys all know each other pretty well," Emily says. "So which one of you is actually the patient and who are the visitors?"

"I'd be the patient," I say, raising my paw so that she can see the clear plastic bracelet taped around my wrist. "And a thank you to my principal for putting me here. Thank you, Mister Marlboro! Long story short, since everyone's been asking, my principal here on Earth, the aforementioned Mister Marlboro, he decided to turn me into a foxy projectile and then kick my ribs in with the aid of his steel-toe boots. Yeah, I nearly died, but heck, I'm getting better, and there's no point in complaining, is there? I mean, I do enough of it on my own time, I don't think that I need to keep at it."

"Oh. Oh dear. I see," Emily says. "What's it like, being a- a what do you call it again? Terabithian?"

"No, a Terran. You know what the Two Worlds are, right?"

"Of course I do. Who doesn't?"

"Pretty much nobody. Anyways, we're all from Terra originally. Alaina and I are here on exchange, like I think I said earlier, and Jenna and Isaac here are orphans that were adopted by a person here on Earth."

"Sounds to me like all Terrans have it pretty rough, I would say."

"You could say that, I mean, our planet is almost constantly at war with some other planet on the Terran side of the Bridge. I don't know of a year within the last hundred thousand Earth years that we've had peace, which would be about a million and a half Terran years, roughly. Time is different here than it is back home."

"Is it really your home, though?" Emily asks. "You both seem plenty happy to be here on Earth and not have to worry about the troubles that Terra faces. And just one more question: did either of you ever actually fit in back on Terra, or were you both always the odd ones out without a single friend to be spoken of?"

"No," I sigh, "you're right. I certainly never fit in, I tend to talk at people instead of to them, and I've never really been the most social of mammals. That, at the very least, is normal for foxes. We're not really social creatures, and I'm probably one of the least social people that anyone'll ever meet. I don't get myself half of the time, and I'm sure that that's not helping anything."

"I get it, Theo, I do," Alaina says, smiling and putting a paw on my shoulder. "You ever heard the expression 'great minds think alike?"

"Can't say that I have," I say. "What's it mean?"

"What it means, Theo, is that I'm a lot more like you than you realize. Do you know how hard it is to try and be bubbly and social when I don't want to talk to anyone at the moment?"

"You're kidding, right? I thought you loved people."

"I do, Theo, but I can't sit and be social all day, it's just too much."

"Well, I'm glad to know I'm not alone, then."

"Don't worry, you're not, Alaina. You're not alone, you never have been all alone, and nor will you ever be all alone."

"Thanks for the reassurance, Theo," Alaina says, her tail starting to wag happily as she smiles. "Thanks for being there for me."

"We odd ones out stick together," I say, returning her smile. "So what do you want to know about us, Emily? We've had a bit of practice, if you have any questions."

"I don't to keep you from lunch, you look hungry."

"Oh, alright," I sigh, taking a set of set of silverware and beginning to eat, but it doesn't taste quite right. "What's wrong with this food? It tastes bit-" I begin, but I can't finish before my stomach starts to roil, and before anyone can react, out everything comes, leaving an orange stain of vomit on the floor.

"Theo, are you okay?" Jenna gasps, shocked, before the same thing happens to her.

"What the-," she gags once her stomach is empty, too, and everyone else is looking at us in shock.

"What the hell is going on here?" Emily asks. "I swear everything's fresh, the cafe staff just cooked it no more than an hour ago… Here, let me go get some towels for everyone. I swear, I have no idea what's going on, and nor do I have anything to do with it, whatever it is. I know that this is probably going to sound like a crazy question, but do you know of anyone who would want either of you dead?"

"Um, no, I can't think of anyone," Jenna says. "And what would we have done to them to try this?"

"I don't know why," I say, "but I'll bet my life that I know who it was."

"Who?" everyone all asks at the same time, leaning in in anticipation.

"My former principal," I say, wincing as the memories flash through my mind again. "He's kinda the guy that beat me to shit and got me landed, so it wouldn't surprise me to find out that he's be the one behind of all of this scat. May Jenna and I have a few towels, please? I don't like being covered in my own vomit, you know?"

"I'll be right back," Emily says, and Jenna and I get out of the bed.

"Oh, before you go?" I ask.

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind bringing us new clothes and a pair of scissors?"

"Not a problem," Emily says. "I'll be back in a few. You'll find hospital gowns in the bathroom to change into for the time being."

"Okay, that's good," I say. "And a shower, too?"

"There's one right there," Emily says, pointing to a door to the left of my bed. "That's a bathroom, it has a shower inside, go ahead and get clean, I'll be back in a few hours."

"I'll give you two some privacy," Papa says, getting up and heading out, Mama following suit, giving us a wink as he leaves.

I don't know if Jenna saw, but judging from the bright blush that's now starting to show under the white fur on her cheeks, I'm willing to wager that she did.

"Did you see that too?" she asks me.

"I did," I say, feeling a blush starting to light up my own cheeks. "Come on," I say, deciding to try and ignore the embarrassment, "let's go get clean."

"Together?" she asks, a twinkle in her eyes. "Okay then."

"Uh… yeah, I thought you might want the help…"

"Or do you just want to get a good look at me?"

"Um….," I manage to sputter out. "Um…"

"It's okay, Theo," she says. "I get it, now let's go. Oh-," she says, pausing to look me straight in the eyes, her smile growing. "I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is yes."

An Hour Later

Well, that was… an experience. That's all I'm going to say, and well, Jenna is awfully cute. I'm sure some mammals would wonder what happened. Anything inappropriate during that time, they'll ask, and I'll have to shake my head.

_Unless you consider kissing each other under the hot water for forty-five minutes inappropriate, I think you'll be good._

_Well, at least, not for the first forty-five minutes._

_As for the rest?_

_That's a secret._

"Jenna," I say, towelling myself off, "I have a secret that I want to tell you."

"What's that?" she asks, already dry and wearing the clean set of clothes that our parents left for us outside the bathroom door.

"How beautiful you are. Your fur is beautiful, your eyes sparkle like gems, and you're probably the kindest person I've ever met. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Theo," she says. "What now?"

"Do you mean-?"

"You know what I mean, Theo," she says, her tone dropping to a whisper that even I have to strain to hear. "I trust you with my life, otherwise I wouldn't have given myself to you."

"Do you think we still smell like each other?"

"Well, I would hope not," she says, "but any mammal with a decent nose can figure it out, I'm sure. As for the rest? We'll see in about a day, right? If you start throwing up again, we'll know, right?"

"I don't know," Jenna says, worry creeping into her tone. "I never knew my parents, Theo, so I don't know what it's like because I couldn't ever ask them."

"And I didn't ever dare ask my mother. She resented my father, her mate, for up and dying on us like that."

"She couldn't have blamed him for everything, could she have? I mean, it wasn't his choice to go and die, was it?"

I sigh and place my paws on my temples. "No, Jenna," I say, my tone growing sadder, "but that didn't change what she thought. I remember the day that the notice came in the mail that Corporal Matthew Aspen had been killed in action, shot with a particle ray that blew him into dust and burned the dust. There was nothing left, just his identification tags, and even those were scorched and rusted full of holes."

"That must've been awful," Jenna says, putting a reassuring paw on my shoulder, and I take it.

"Thank you, Jenna," I say. "Now where was I?"

"You were saying how your Dad's dog tags were all beat to pieces."

"Oh, right. So anyway, she got that letter in the mail and went straight to me and told me how my coward of a father had gotten himself blown to dust on the front, and then she stormed right off to the judge's to change her name back to her maiden name. She tried to get me to do the same thing, but I flat-out refused to. I told her that I didn't care what she was going to think of me for refusing to change my name, Matthew Aspen was still my father and I loved him with all my heart. Me refusing to change my name didn't mean that I hated her and wanted to disrespect her wishes, like she was so adamant in believing, it just meant that I was having just as hard of a time as her wrapping my head around my new reality, a reality without the person on whom I had most depended."

"So what happened then?"

"Lucky for me, that was around the time when the Venturing program came knocking, which gave me an excuse to be out of the house, especially when my mother would be at her worst. You know, I would've thought that PTSD was something that only soldiers got, but looking back on everything now, I would have to say that my mother definitely had an awful case."

"What does PTSD mean, exactly?" Jenna asks. "I'm sorry, I just don't know. I've heard it used plenty of times, but I've never understood the context enough to understand what it meant."

"It stands for post-traumatic stress disorder, it basically meant that she kept flashing back to that one moment, having anxiety attacks. I know that the way I'm describing it isn't giving it justice, but that's basically the gist of it."

"So she started drinking to fight off the memories?" Jenna asks, worry creasing her brow.

"Yeah, pretty much. Alcohol became her therapy, and it just got worse and worse until I couldn't stand it any more. I ran off, started living on the streets and scavenging to survive. It made my breath smell awful, which would have been the least of my concerns had my classmates not have taken it upon themselves to make my life hell.

"'Hey, Trash Panda,' I remember them saying. The tailhole, he was a cheetah, just like Tony, which I don't think helps Tony at all. 'Hey, Trash Panda,' he said to me. 'When was the last time you got a good look at yourself in the mirror? Your fur's all greasy, when's the last time you took a shower?' I remember him asking me, and I remember telling him that it had been two weeks.

"'Heh, that doesn't surprise me,' he said. 'That just means you're going to be all slippery and slimy, but what else should we expect from a fox?'"

"Theo, why did you put up with that stuff?" Jenna asks, looking at me sadly, then giving me a lick on the cheek. "Why, my mate?"

"I don't know, Jenna," I say, hearing and resenting the sadness in my voice. "I really don't know. Probably because I knew that fighting would be turn out with the same results there as they would here; with it always being a game of pin the blame on the fox. It didn't matter how much I tried to be a good mammal, oh, no no no, I was always the one to blame.

"But anyway, to get back on track, by that point, my life had pretty much gone to scat, and so, when the chance to escape came, I took it."

"I can't argue with that logic, but speaking of escape, when are you going to be able to get out of here?"

"Another week or two. Where do you think you'll be by then?"

"If I even end up pregnant, Theo, but from how I'm feeling right now, I'm going to guess about a tenth of the way."

"So when do you want to tell them?"

"I don't know. I'm sure my mother knows already, or at least, she had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen between us."

"What about your brother?"

"I don't know, but like I said, we're canines, it's pretty much impossible to hide scents from us, even if the person that smells has tried to wash it off."

"So can you smell… well, you know… it? Can you smell that on us?"

"It's kinda hard not to, especially when neither of us really washed off after we were clean the first time."

"No, we were enjoying ourselves too much, I suppose."

"I can't argue with you there," Jenna says, grabbing my cheeks and planting a kiss full on the end of my muzzle. "So how long do we have before people start showing back up?"

"I, for one, hope it's a little longer, so that way we can keep snuggling like this. When are your next PT sessions, anyways?"

"Ugh, I don't know," I groan. "I really well and truly don't want to think about PT, let alone have to go through it."

"You were the one with the broken ribs, Theo, not me, and yeah, it's gonna hurt, but at least you'll be able to get out of this damn hospital."

"You have a point, Jenna, you have a point."

The next morning finds both of us sitting in bed together, and sure enough, Jenna's feeling queasy.

"Are you okay there, Jenna?" Mrs. Neve asks, and Alaina nods. "I'm just a little sick to my stomach from that garbage yesterday, Mama," she fibs. "So did anyone find out what happened?"

"What do you mean, Mama?" Jenna asks.

:What do you mean 'what do you mean?,' Jenna?" Mrs. Neve asks. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Ergh, yeah, Mama," Jenna says, "yeah, I do. Sorry, it's been a long last twenty-four hours."

"I can appreciate that, my kit," Mrs. Neve says, patting her daughter on the back. "I hope you haven't caught anything, Jenna, I don't need to have you stuck here, too…."

"It's okay, Mama," Jenna says. "I'll be okay, I promise."

With that, we turn to our breakfasts- ones that Mama brought in from the local bagel joint like we asked her to. I don't think that either of us are willing to take any chances, and I know that Jenna's certainly on guard.

I don't know if the parents have found out, but from the looks we're getting from the rest of the sharp-nosed canines in the room, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that they know.

I wonder how long it's going to be before someone asks us about our relationship status, but judging from the look Isaac has om his face as he's coming over to the bed, I'm willing to bet that it won't be much longer.

Canines. We are naturally curious, after all.

What I'd be curious to know is how much longer I'm going to have to be in the hospital.

Ah, well, I have my family right here with me, so I have no right to complain.

"Oh, Theo?" comes a voice that I don't recognize from outside the door.

"Yeah?" I call back. "Who is it?"

"It's Doctor Paula," the voice calls back. "It's time for your first PT session."

_Oh, scat. I spoke too soon._


	7. Chapter Seven: Groaning Pains Redux

Chapter Seven: Groaning Pains Redux

 

“Now? Really?” I say, groaning at even the thought of PT. “Do I have to?”

 

“Do you want to be stuck in this here hospital for forever?” Doctor Paila asks. “If you do, well, then I’ll bring you to the mental ward. If not, well, then, follow me, and let’s get started.”

  
  


“But I’m okay, really, Doctor Paila, really,” I try to protest, but to no avail.

 

“Theo,” she says. “I know, I know, you’re afraid that this is going to hurt, and yes, you’re right, it  _ is _ going to hurt, but it’s only going to get worse if you don’t stretch the muscles out. When was  the last time you actually used your chest muscles?”

 

“Um…,” I say, trying to think about that answer. “Geez, doctor, I really don’t know,” I say, feeling sheepish. “Maybe three weeks? How long have I been in the hospital, anyways, because it’s been about since then.”

 

“It’s been about a month, Theo. Come on, let’s go.” With that, we start in on a regimen that Doctor Paila says is supposed to be ‘easy,’ but for me, it gives personification to PT’s true meaning being “pure pain and true torture.” My ribs are screaming, and it’s only been two minutes.

 

I have to give her credit, though: the longer we do this regimen together, the less my ribs cramp and ache from being busted, and instead, I just feel tired and sore, and yet relieved. That’s one day down, and only twenty more to go.

 

“Hey, Theo, are you alright there? You seem kinda lost in the clouds there,” Doctor Paila says, her voice breaking me out of my thoughts.

 

“Himm?” I ask, then realize that I’ve been staring off into space. “Sorry, Doctor, I got a little lost there for a second or two.”

 

“It’s fine, Theo,” she says. “Are you doing alright, though, now that you’re not lost and drifting out among the stars?”

 

“If you’re not taking my soreness into account, then yeah, I’m fine, and thanks for asking.”

 

“You’re welcome. If you don’t mind me asking, Theo, what put you here in the first place?”

 

“You mean on Earth? I’m an exchange student from Terra.”

 

“No, what I meant was what put you here in the hospital?”

 

“You didn’t read my medical records?”

 

“No,” she says, “I didn’t, I haven’t had the time to yet. What with a war on, we’ve had more people coming in our doors every day than we have space to bed in this entire hospital. By the way, would you happen to know what the hell this whole mess is about, anyway?”

 

“I have no idea,” I say. “Everybody keeps asking me, thinking that because I’m Terran that I might know why my planet would have started to pick a fight with one of the most powerful military forces in the entirety of the the Two Universes. Unfortunately for them, they always have to leave me disappointed, because I have no flocking idea why Terra’s all of a sudden decided to up and take on Earth by launching a full-scale invasion.”

 

“Hey, no worries, Theo, really,” Doctor Paila says. “Just curious. So what got you plunked in the hospital here in the first place, anyways? You never did answer that particular question of mine.”

 

“Well,” I say, taking a deep breath and trying to steel my nerves, “I had a former principal here on Earth who found me walking around the school late one afternoon after all the buses had left (I was heading back to the cafeteria to talk with some friends who were staying after with their mom, one of the teachers) and I needed to get something for an assignment out of my locker. I think it was my Algebra textbook or something like that, I don’t remember.

 

“So anyways, I’m passing by the main office on my way back down to the cafe, and I see that there’s only one light left on in the hallway, the one that lights up the trophy case right outside the cafeteria, and before I can think that that seemed odd, which it did, I’m being lifted up by my backpack straps, accused of slinking around the building and all sorts of thievery, and then thrown down the hallway. As if that wasn’t enough, the arsehole decided to kick my ribs in with the help of some steel toe boots. Wonderful fun, so yeah, that’s what got me here. I never thought that my life would end up anything like it is right now, but it is what it is.”

 

“So I guess PT is the least of your worries, huh?”

 

“Considering the guy who did this to me got arrested but then broke out of the transport van on his way to the jail and is now on the loose somewhere, yeah, I think you could say that.”

 

“Do the cops have any idea where he is or where he could be going?” Nurse Paila asks, twisting a loop of her curly, rather dark brown hair between her fingers as she talks.”

 

“They have no idea,” I say, “or at least that’s what I’ve been told, I don’t know much more than that.”

 

“That must be scary,” she says, taking another loop of hair in between her next two fingers, “thinking about how the guy who attacked you is on the loose somewhere.”

 

“Yeah,” I say, sighing tiredly, “it is scary when I think about it, which is why I try not to think about it, if you get what I mean.”

 

“I do. Any more routines that you want us to do together?” I ask, trying to redirect the subject as subvertly as I can. I don’t want to talk about my having been attacked again, it gives me nightmares. In fact, I had one last night where he was chasing me down the hallways with a stun gun in his hand and some creepy music playing over the school’s PA system. I don’t know which movie it was, and I really don’t care. I just know that I hate thinking about it, hate having the phantom whispers of feeling grab me under the shoulder, hate feeling the stale school hallway air rush through my fur like it did during that split second.

 

“No, I think we’re good for today, at the very least, Theo, but thanks for making sure,” Nurse Paila says, smiling as she waves me goodbye and I leave.

 

After wandering around the hospital for a little bit and getting a little exercise on the stairs, I make my way back to my room, where everyone sighs a little when I come in through the door and hear its latch click softly shut behind me.

 

“Where were you, Theo?” Mama asks, a look of concern creasing her forehead. “Wasn’t your PT session supposed to be done well over an hour ago?”

 

I snag a look at a clock, and geez, she’s right, my session was actually supposed to be done nearly  _ two _ hours ago.

 

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, feeling ashamed for making everyone worry. “I decided that I wanted to go explore the building a little more, see what there was to see, you know? Did you know that there’s this awesome roofed garden up on the top floor?”

 

“Hmm, no I didn’t know that, Theo,” Mama says. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, but next time, would you please let all of us know when you’re going to go explore the building so that, the next time, we don’t have to silently freak out and worry about you.”

 

“You don’t have to do that at all, Mama,” I say. “I’m not a little kit any longer.”

 

“I’m your host mother, Theo,” Mama says. “It’s my job to worry about my children, especially the ones who are in the hospital.”

 

“Alright, I get it, Mama,” I say. “So now what? I mean, I’m finally here, we’re all together, and I don’t think any of us have anything better to be doing.”

 

“Anyone for a game of chess?” Isaac asks, leaping out of his seat with such enthusiasm that, did I not know better, I would have thought that he had had several gallons of coffee to drink that morning.

 

“I don’t know,” I say. “It’s been so long since I’ve played. Is everything still the same here as it is on Terra? King, queen, knight, bishop, all the rest of the pieces like that?”

 

“Yeah, they’re all the same.”

 

“Then I think we should all be good,” I say. “Who wants to be white and who wants to be black?”

 

“I’ll take black,” Isaac says. “Theo, you want white?”

 

“Sounds good to me,” I say. “Prepare to lose,  _ wolfie _ .”

 

“Oh yeah?” Isaac taunts back. “You think I’m going to lose? Watch me win paws down, foxy.”

 

“You’re on.”

 

Two hours later, several cups of hot cocoa, and  _ way _ too many games of chess later, Isaac and I finally call it quits. I have to say that he’s probably one of the best chess players that I’ve faced, but (and I’m not trying to give a backpawed compliment here) I haven’t been playing that long. I keep putting my knights out too soon, but I manage to figure my strategy out by then, and unluckily, so has Isaac. He keeps calling himself a dumb wolf, but he’s a lot smarter than he’s willing to give himself credit for.

“So what did I tell you, Theo?” he asks. “I said that I was going to win paws down, and what did I do?”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, smiling. “You won, paws down. I’m not really great at chess.”

 

“Well, I could teach you how to play if you like.”

 

“That sounds nice,” I say. “I never really learned. Too busy with training and all, you know?”

 

“I do. So what  _ are  _ you good at, Theo? And don’t you dare say nothing, because that’s a damn lie and you know it!” he says, pounding his fist into his palm as he finishes the sentence.

 

“Other than being incredibly cynical?” I ask. “Well, I’m a decent mammal, I think Alaina would say that I’m a good friend, Isaac, I hope you would think the same thing about me. Jenna, what do you think?” I ask, winking.

 

“You know what I think about you, Theo,” she says, giving me a peck on the cheek.

 

“Are you two-?”

 

“Dating?” I ask? “Yes, we are. Problem?”

 

“No, no problem,” Isaac says. “I mean, come on, she’s my sister, so it’s kinda my right to know what’s going on.”

 

“That’s fair,” I say. “My dad was kinda like that with my brother and sister, too. But anyways, I’d rather not talk about-”

 

Before I can finish, a loud boom echoes from outside, and just a few seconds later, another set of booms rattles the window panes, and the entire building shakes.

 

“Is that what I think it is?” I ask, paws over my ears to tune out the noise and save my sensitive ears from more damage than they’ve likely just been dealt.

 

“Um…. I really don’t want to know, but let me go find out,” he says, scampering over to the window to see what’s going on. After a few seconds of staring out the window in shock, he turns back around to face us, his face paling beneath his tan fur, ears pressed flat to his head in what I have to guess can only be an absurd mix of fear and terror.

 

“Don’t like what you’re seeing out there, I guess?” Alaina asks, twisting her paws together in nervous agitation.

 

“Would you?” Isaac asks, grimacing. “They’re back, everyone, and they’ve brought more ships this time. Seriously, what could they want?”

 

“Why don’t we turn on the TV and find out?” I suggest. “Last time this happened, they were talking about it on pretty much every station, I don’t think that this would be any different.”

 

“Let’s find out them, why don’t we?” Jenna asks, smiling at me, which causes some eyebrows to raise, but not for long, thankfully.

 

“Sure, Jenna, if you want to,” I say, getting up from my seat on the bed, my calf muscles aching as I get up and the stretch out. “So what’s going on? Are we under attack again?”

 

“Yeah, Theo,” Jenna says, worry starting to creep into her voice as she speaks, “yeah, we are.”

 

“I didn’t see the last ships, so do they look the same?”

 

“I don’t know, Theo, I don’t know. I couldn’t really see them from behind the clouds that one night, you know?”

 

“So what do we do now?”

 

“We wait. What else is there to do but wait?”

 

“Not much?”

 

“Exactly. Not much.”

\--

_ Two Months Later _

_ St. Stephen’s Day, December 26 _

 

_ It’s been three months of waiting, give or take a few days, since Terra declared war on Earth. In the meantime, the battles have grown worse; fleets of Terran ships are almost always in the skies, and still not a soul knows what they’re actually doing there. No soul knows anything, not a person dares say what they think. _

 

_ In better news, today’s the day when I can finally get out of the hospital. Still no sign of either Mister Marlboro or any of my homework. _

 

_ The second, I can count as a good sign, the first is a terrifying prospect, if I’m being totally honest. _

 

_ In even better news, I’m sixteen today! I can get the hell of the hospital. I can get back to my normal life! _

 

_ Phff, wait, what? What did I think? ‘Normal?’ What the flock even  _ is _ normal anymore? _

 

_ I don’t know, because whatever it is, I’m sure not it. _

 

_ What I am, though, is terrified of how the next few minutes are going to go. With the changes Jenna’s been having to her appearance, well, it didn’t take too long for everyone to figure out what happened, and well, they want to know more. That’s pretty much why I’m dreading the next several hours to come, because I know that everyone’s all probably going to hate me by the end of this. _

 

“So, Theo,” Papa asks. “Are you and Jenna together?”

 

“Yes, Papa,” I answer, my voice meek and afraid.

 

“What was that?” he asks, his voice growing firm. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you, my ears are going in my old age. Are you and Jenna together?”

 

“Yes, Papa,” I say, more loudly this time. “Yes, we are.”

 

“That’s what I thought.” Papa says. “And you didn’t think to ask anyone about this first?”

 

“No, Papa,” I say, my tail doing its damn best to try and snake its way in between my legs. “No, I didn’t.”

 

“Why not?” he asks, twisting the ends of his mustache in frustration. “You didn’t think about how you would be going back to Terra in less than eight months? You didn’t ask any of us first, and worst of all, you didn’t tell. I could have understood had you told us earlier. I _would_ have understood if you’d told us earlier, but keeping a secret like this one for two months? You’ll never even get to meet your kit, did you know that? You’ll be back to Terra before then, Theo. You’ll be gone, never to see any one of us again. Did you think about that?”

 

“No, Papa, I didn’t think about that,” I say. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t think-”

 

“That’s right, you didn’t think, Theo,” Papa says, taking a deep breath to calm himself down and letting it out slowly. “What happens to your mate and kits when you have to go back home to Terra at the end of this school year. What happens to those you leave behind? Are they supposed to just up and leave their lives behind to follow you to Terra?”

 

“No, they’re not, Papa,” I say. “I’m not going back. I can’t stand it, and what am I supposed to do there? My father was killed in the war, my mother shot herself because she was too fucking drunk in the years after his death to think straight. What else am I supposed to do? The only family I have left, save for my brother and sister, are here on Earth. I can’t get back to Terra, there aren’t any flights outbound from Earth, and nor have there been for the last two and a half, no nearly three months. Just how the flock am I supposed to go get them?”

 

“Great question, Theo, great question, really,” Papa says, sighing. “What about you, Alaina? Are you going to stay with Theo? What do you have left for you on Terra if you go back?”

 

“Probably an easy death, Papa,” she says, frowning. “I was an orphan, I have been for nearly my entire life. I have nothing to fight for on Terra, except that it was the planet where I was born. I know that I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I owe that planet no allegiance. I don’t know if I can really call Earth home either, but it’s sure as flock better than what I’m used to.”

 

“Alright then,” Papa says, sighing deeply once again. “I’m sorry I yelled, but you know why, right?”

 

“I do, Papa,” I say, “I do. So what now?”

 

“What now?” Papa muses. “What now? Hmm, Elena, my dear, what do you think?”

 

“What do I think about what?” Mama asks. “Oh, I get it. What we talked about, right?” she asks, and Papa nods. “In that case, darling,” Mama says, “the answer is yes.”

 

“Yes what?” Alaina asks, head cocked and ears perked in curiosity.

 

“Theo, Alaina, would you be willing to do us the honor of being our son and daughter?”

 

_ What? Wha? Huh? Did they just ask me what I think that they did? _

 

“Yes,” Alaina whispers, tears coming to the corners of her eyes before brimming over and dripping. “Yes, Papa, of course, thank you thank you thank you!”

 

“You’re welcome, my daughter,” Papa says. “I know it’s sudden, and I know what you’re thinking, ‘how could they have thought of that right on the spot?’ Is that about right?”

 

“Yes, Papa,” Alaina says. “That’s just it. How could you have thought of something like this so quickly?”

 

“You want our full answer?” Mama asks, and I nod, kinda stunned at the whole situation that’s unfolding around me.

 

“Well,” she begins, “Papa and I can’t have kids. We’ve been trying for years, but to no avail.”

 

“Is that why you agreed to host us? You didn’t have any kits? I mean kids?”

 

“That was part of it, wanting to hear more young voices around, but also, neither of us have ever really been ‘afraid’ of Terrans, per se, and with all of the ‘they’re monsters’ garbage that was going around, we both figured that it couldn’t hurt to host them for a year.”

 

“So then,” Alaina asks, her expression still curious, “what made you decide that you wanted to keep us around?”

 

“Hearing you two talk about having no real family left behind for you to go back to on Terra and hearing that desperateness in your voice, well, I didn’t want to let you two go back without knowing that someone loved you. Scratch that, I didn’t want to force you two to have to have to go back at all, not to what I heard your realities were like. Speaking of that, Theo, do you have an answer for us? Yes or no?”

 

“Well,” I say, trying and failing miserably to wipe away the tears of happiness that are coming to my eyes, “what else do you expect me to say? Yes, of course yes!”

 

“Group hug!” Isaac shouts, and I jump back.

 

“I don’t know about that, guys. I don’t want to break anything again…”

 

“Eh, don’t worry about it, so much, Theo,” Mama says, waving me over. “But seriously, let us know next time, eh?”

 

“I will, I will, I promise….”

 

“Alright, come here, Theo,” Mama says, opening her arms for me to join the group. “Jenna, you too.”

 

“Alright, Mrs. Maranza,” Jenna says, smiling. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too, Theo. We’ve always known that you were a good mammal, despite what you might have thought about you. So now, should we keep going, or what? I don’t want to stay here for forever.”

 

“Well, three hours worth of waiting for release papers so that we can go home is a lot shorter than the three months of my life that I’ve spent sitting here in these hospital beds or doing PT sessions that make my muscles regret not just being able to split in two, wouldn’t you think?

 

“Besides,” I continue,  “I just need to get out of here too, but yeah, like I said, three hours, at least from my perspective, isn’t so bad when I’ve been cooped up for a quarter of an entire year. Do you get what I’m saying there?”

 

“I do,” Mama says, “and speaking of release papers, Theo,” she says, taking a stack of papers that a now-leaving nurse just handed her, “that’s exactly what these are.”

 

“Finally,” Papa groans. “It’s taken them long enough to get up here. Do you happen to have a pen, Theo?” he asks, and I shake my head no.

 

“Sorry, Papa,” I say, “but no can do. Alaina, do you have a pen Papa can use?”

 

“No, not on me, Theo,” Alaina says. “But there’s one right here on the table,” she says, tapping the table from which Papa just took the release forms. “It was right in front of you there, Papa.”

 

“Geez, I think I’m going to need to get my eyes checked, aren’t I, Theo?”

 

“Maybe,” I say. “Now just sign those papers and let’s get the heck out of here.”

 

“Please,” I say, “I’d love that. “By the way, did anyone ever find out why the heck our food tasted so awful that one time?”

 

“They checked everything, Theo, and no, they didn’t.”

 

“That’s interesting…. Now, let’s go,” I say, and Papa signs the papers.

Ten minutes later, everyone’s down in the main lobby, and I can see the destruction that’s been caused over the course of the last two months or so: the glass is grimy and stained with soot, some of the panes are cracked, and as for the landscaping? Yeah, it’s all full of holes, most of them burnt black, charred grass creating a streaky halo around each one. And that’s only the destruction that I can see from where we’re all standing in the lobby.

 

Even inside the building, there are bits and pieces that are broken, like where I’m guessing a glass chandelier once swung, because now, all that’s left is a collection of cracked tiles underneath where it would have been originally, and the loop that would have held it is missing from its spot in the ceiling. As for the chandelier itself, it’s piled up in several trash cans along the edge of the room, where the cracked tile of the lobby transitions its way to dusty northern pine flooring, its vinyl covering worn, cracked and peeling.

 

“So,” Papa says, smiling at me, me and my sister.

 

_ Scat, _ I think.  _ Holy scat, all of this is real. I have a family again, I’m finally leaving the hospital… _

 

_ Save for the war on, I think I could actually learn to like this. _

 

_ Now, that’s not to say that I don’t like this, oh, Karma, no no, but I’m kinda having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around my new reality. The newfound family, though, well, I can’t argue with that. I like being able to call someone Mom and Dad; have family that will support me. _

 

“Question for you, Mama,” I say as we head out of the hospital for the first time in time in three months, and as I leave, the nurses and doctors wave me goodbye.

 

“Yes, my son?” Mama asks, and I feel a small glow of joy in my chest as she says that, “What’s your question?”

 

“What are we supposed to do with ourselves now? I’ve spent so long being stuck in the hospital that I’ve kinda forgotten what it’s like to breathe fresh air.”

 

“How about we get you all winter jackets? It  _ is  _ the middle of December, after all, and let me guess, no one has winter coats.

 

“That sounds good to me,” a voice that I don’t recognize says. I turn around, only to come face to face with Tony, who somehow managed to disappear into the background over the course of the last two and a half months.

 

“Tony, how did you manage to disappear for so long? I swear, I didn’t see you in the room, and I didn’t notice you until now. Were you just there and I didn’t notice you? If that’s the case, geez, man, I’m really sorry.”

 

“No, Theo, you haven’t been ignoring me at all, I promise. I disappeared after the first day, when you passed back out in your bed. I’ve been surviving okay, in case you’re wondering, I can see the curiosity in your eyes. School’s still open, and we still don’t have a principal. Everybody’s kinda freaking out 

about that a little bit, and the hole that got blown through the cafeteria during the middle school lunch hour a few months ago kinda has everyone freaked out, because it’s the day after Christmas, and they still haven’t fixed it. Oh, and there’s neither power nor heat in the entire building, save for down in the main office, and even then, most students figured out what happened to you and flat out refuse to go into there, even if it  _ is  _ the only warm place left in the entire building.

 

“Anyways, I just wanted to see if you guys needed any of my help with anything.”

 

“No, but thanks for the offer, Mister Jubatus,” Papa says. “We’ve got it.”

 

“It’s not Jubatus any more, actually,” Tony says, the lightest wisp of a smile creeping onto his muzzle. “Thank God, I don’t know how I would have been able to stand that for much longer, having that bastard’s last name be mine too.”

 

“So what is it now?” I say, shivering as the first wisps of cold air come running through my fur as I take my first steps outside of the hospital in far too long, my tail wrapping around my legs not in fear for once, but instead to keep my legs from freezing off, especially considering that I haven’t grown in my winter coat yet.

 

“Felix. Anthony Felix is the name now. What do you think?”

 

“As long as you’re happy with it, Tony, then it’s fine for me. So where to again, Papa?” I ask him, rubbing my arms down my sides and wincing when my much-too-long claws dig into my sides.

 

“Ow…” I mutter, trying to hide my frustration under my breath.

 

“What’s wrong?” Tony asks.

 

“Oh, nothing, nothing at all,” I mutter. “I haven’t filed my claws in months, and so I managed to scratch myself. Woo, fun. So where are we off to now, Papa?” I ask, shaking my head to try and blot out the pain.

 

“Off to get you a jacket, Theo, and one for anyone else who needs them. Okay, raise your paw if you need a jacket!” Papa calls to the rest of the group, any sure enough, all of the group of mammals raise their paw.

 

“That’s what I thought,” Papa says. “Why didn’t anyone say anything earlier?”

 

“Because we don’t like being presumptuous, Mister Maranza,” Tony says, rubbing his own arms in an effort to stay warm, and I’m willing to bet that he might need a pair of boots or something like that, if I had to take a wild stab at things.

 

“Fair point,” Papa says, leading us all into what looks like a clothing and shoe store just down the block. It takes us a few minutes to get there, what with the way that the wind and snowfall are starting to pick up. Thankfully, though, my misery won’t have to ask much longer, although it might if I can’t get this crust of ice out of my fur.

 

“Hello, everyone, what wonderful weather we’re having, right?” the clerk says, smiling broadly and seemingly oblivious to the fact that several decidedly non-humans have come into his store.

 

“Yeah, wonderful, just wonderful,” I say, brushing the snow off of my shirt and shaking my pants off onto the mat beneath my paws, which feel like they’ve been frozen solid. If it turns out that they actually  _ are  _ frozen solid, well, that wouldn’t surprise me.

 

“You carry winter gear, right?” Papa asks, to which the clerk nods yes in response.

 

“We do,” he says, pushing his wire-rim glasses up the finger-thin hooked bridge of his nose. “What kind of winter gear are you looking for, exactly?”

 

“Hats, jackets, socks, and of course boots for these fine young mammals,” Papa answers, gesturing to us with a sweep of his arm. “What can you do for us?”

 

“Well, let’s see,” the man says, coming out from behind the counter, tape measure in hand. “Let me get everyone’s measurements, and we should be all set. Who first? The young tod?”

 

“No, I think you should measure Jenna first,” I say. Then, of course, because he won’t know who this ‘Jenna’ mammal is, I add, “She’s the gray vixen.”

 

“I see, I see. Here, before I start,” he says, gesturing to a door that I hadn’t noticed earlier, “I have a fire going in my storeroom, if everyone wants to come get warm.”

 

“Why thank you, sir,” Mama says, deciding to take him up on the offer. “Here, anyone else going to join me?”

 

“I think I will,” I say, shivering like a wet dog as I shake the rest of the snow out of my fur. “What’s this room back here for, anyways?”

 

“My workshop,” the clerk, who is also apparently the owner of this shop says. “You know, I’ve never fitted anything for mammals before. Did you all just get caught in the weather?”

 

“Yes, I did,” I say. “I didn’t know that there was a tailor’s shop here near the hospital…”

 

“Oh, it hasn’t been open that long, Theo,” the clerk says, “only since I lost my last job…. Thanks a lot, fox,” he snarls, and I can get a good look at his face. When I do, all the confusion about how he could possibly know my name disappears. There’s a cigarette between his lips, right at the corner of his mouth, and how fitting for a man with his personality.

 

“Come on, Mama,” I say, backing away from my former (and no longer jailbird) principal, who is now just standing calmly in the doorframe, his expression blank and devoid of any of the hints of mirth that were just there, cigarette gone. “We have to go, and  _ now. _ ”

 

“What do you mean, Theo?” Mama asks, confusion etched in her feature. “We just got here, and didn’t all of you want new winter clothes?”

 

“Not from him, Mama,” I say. “Please, let’s go, I don’t want to go back to the hospital.”

 

“That’s right,” Mister Marlboro says, expression still flat. “ I was wondering what happened to you, Theo, are you alright?”

 

“Yeah, I am,” I snarl, “no thanks to you, you bastard. Come any closer and I’ll claw your face, and if you want to test me, I’d be more than willing to give you a demonstration on how vulpine claws work!”

 

“Really, Theo? Violence? You think violence is the answer, after all I’ve given you?”

 

“Given me, Mister Marlboro?” I snarl? “Given me? You gave me hell and my family a fucking mountain, a  _ mountain _ of medical bills, and me nearly twenty broken ribs, and you just expect me to up and accept that you’re a good person now? How the hell did you even break out of that fucking jail van, anyway? It’s not like you could just up and teleport yourself out of the damn thing, could you?”

 

“You might be surprised, Theo,” Mister Marlboro says, and then he disappears. I don’t just mean that he pulled a magic trick on us and slipped through the floor, no, what I mean is that he’s  _ gone. _

 

Before I have any time to wonder where he’s gone, though, there’s a soft  _ pop _ ping noise behind us, and we all whirl around to see Mister Marlboro standing behind us, a cigarette back to burning his life away (if he’s even alive, that is) in the corner of his mouth.

 

“Now,” he says, grinning evilly, “I would just love to see you all figure out how I managed to pull that one, but then again, I don’t think I will. A good magician never reveals his secrets, after all.” With that, a laugh, and a condescending smirk, he  _ pop _ s away again, and Mama runs for the phone on the wall.

 

“Hello, police?” she asks, voice trembling, “I have a crime I need to report…”

 

“Okay, sir, just remain calm and we’ll have a cruiser over to your location as soon as we can.”

 

“That’s good,” I whisper to Alaina, “because I’m scared, sis.”

 

“And you think I’m not?” she asks, laughing gently and rather nervously. “Who was that guy, anyway? He was a little bit freaky, and that’s about the kindest term I could come up with to describe him.”

 

“You know how I got all my ribs kicked in, right, and I told you guys how it was my former principal who had done it? How he had been arrested, only to escape from the back of the jail van on his way there?”

 

“Um, yeah, I do,” she whispers to me. “Lemme guess, that was him?”

 

“You got it,” I say, whispering back. “I don’t know what the hell was up with that vanishing act he just pulled, but it’s kinda set me on that same sharp, cutting, painful edge that I hate to be on. If he can just do that, pop and vanish, I don’t want to know what else he could do.”

 

“And you don’t find it freaky at all, this guy, who, need I remind you, beat you within a hair of fur’s breadth of death, how he can just almost teleport himself anywhere the flock he pleases? Have you thought about that, Theo? Have you thought about what that could mean for us, and what it’s absolutely certain to mean? Huh? Have you?”

 

“No, Alaina, I haven’t really thought about it much,” I say, sighing and jerking back in surprise as the blue and red strobe lights of a police cruiser start to flash outside, the officer cutting the siren as he steps out while leaving the lights on.

 

Ten seconds later, the officer is in the building, his breath still clouding in front of his face, and I realize that, with Mister Mirabito gone, the temperature in here has steadily dropped to the point where it’s just as cold outside as it is in here, and it might actually be a little colder.

 

“So what happened?” he asks Mama, his gloved hands grasping a thin pencil nub between his pointer finger and thumb.

 

“Well, Theo here just left the hospital after over two months inside,” Mama says, her forehead wrinkled in thought, “so he didn’t have the chance to grow in his winter coat, and nor did he have any boots, just like the rest of them.”

 

“No boots?” the officer asks. “Why not? I’m going to assume that most of them are yours, Mrs….?”

 

“Maranza,” Mama says, “and yes, officer, most of them are. You are aware that that’s legal, right? I saw the look you had on your face there for a second.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” the officer says, going back to jotting down notes, what kind I can only speculate. “I know that Terran adoption is legal, but could we please redirect the conversation back to why you called the police in the first place?”

 

“Of course, officer,” Mama says, the frustration at the officer’s arrogance that I can see in her eyes cleverly and calmly hidden away by a mask of calm and peace. “As for the answer to that question, sir,” she says, “might you know anything about a man with the last name of Marlboro? I think that he would have been arrested about two, maybe two and a half or even closer to three months ago by now? Tall white man with filthy brown hair and eyes that look almost like lapis lazuli, with a few flecks of gold in the middles of them. He likes to smoke, if I had to guess from the cigarette that he had dripping in the corner of his mouth.”

 

“Is that all, ma’am?” the officer asks. “So what was so unusual about him? What was weird enough about him to prompt you to call the police?”

 

“He flocking tried to kill us! I swear, it’s true, he did!” Tony nearly shouts. “He tried to kill us! He came at us and then he just up and disappeared!”

 

“What do you mean, he ‘disappeared?’ Did he drop through the floor and into his basement or something?”

 

“No, I swear, he just disappeared.. He started turning almost gold around the edges, and then he snapped his finger and he was gone, right into thin air. Not a single trace of him anywhere, and believe you me, we’ve looked.”

 

“Hmm, interesting,” the officer says. “Are you sure about that?”   
  


“Yes, sir, I am,” Tony says, tapping his foot impatiently. I know what I saw, mister, and I’m not making this scat up!”

 

“I’m glad you’re not, son,” the officer says. “Although,” he mutters, his voice low enough so that even I have to strain to hear what he’s saying, “I really doubt that what you’re saying is the truth. Stupid animals…. They should all just be kicked back to Terra, where they came from. When the president said that he wanted to build a wall all those years ago, he should’ve expanded that to two walls. Block the bridge and keep the Terrans out, I say.”

 

After his quiet rant, he shakes his head and puts his fingers to his temples. “Look, kid, even if that sounded even remotely plausible, which it  **doesn’t** , by the way, who do you think you’re fooling, and seriously, to dream up that kind of story? What kind of ‘magic beans’ are you on, eh?”

 

“How dare you, you bastard, how dare you!?” Alaina says, getting up out of her seat, hackles raised and teeth bared in a snarl that she doesn’t even try to fight back or conceal.

 

“How dare I  _ what _ , Madam?” the officer says. “I don’t know what your ‘family,’ if that’s even what you could call them, lets this kid into, but I’m willing to bet that he’s been snorting some pretty powerful hallucinogens in order to be seeing shit like that.”

 

“But he’s not making it up,” Alaina protests, and although she puts her paws in her pockets, I can see the fury, ice-hot, in the backs of her eyes. “He’s not, I saw it too.”

 

“And I did as well,” Isaac says, placing his paw on Alaina’s shoulder in support.

 

“Yeah, right,” the officer says, sneering. “As if I’d ever believe talking mammals. Where did you freaks even get such realistic fursuits anyway?”

 

“Fursuits?” I ask. “You think I’m just wearing a costume? Do I look like I’m faking all of this?”

 

“Do you think I believe you?” When I say nothing, the officer goes on.

 

“Hmm, that’s what I thought,” he says. “No? You’re right, I don’t believe you. Why don’t you all scurry back on home to your den and hide and get back to whatever fun you were up to before you decided to come out. That’s right, don’t think I don’t know what all you do during the winter. That _is_ mating season, after all, isn’t it?”

 

“Why, you bas-,” Mama begins, but the officer cuts her off. 

 

“Look, lady,” he says. “I don’t know why all of you are playing this prank on me, but it’s too freaking cold for me to deal with this any more, okay? I’m going back to the station, and if you want any more help, my first suggestion would be for you to talk to a psychiatrist, and maybe get your kids to stop dressing up like freaks. I think that the wildness is getting to their heads, maybe you should get them checked out when you go to see that psychiatrist. As for me helping you find this guy, I think you need to get yourselves all some help first.”

 

With that, he walks back out into the snow and jumps into his cruiser, then pulls away, siren roaring and lights still flashing, leaving all of us staring in shock after him and at each other.

 

“Did what I think just happened actually just happen, or am I in some sort of medically-induced coma back in the hospital? I’m kinda leaning towards the second one, but the cold in here makes me wonder…”

 

“Unfortunately, Theo,” Mama mutters, gritting her teeth in frustration and grinding them together, “you’re not dreaming, my kit, but I can’t help feel like this day has just gotten wilder and wilder. It’s time to go home, I think, and who’s with me?”

 

“I am!” everyone cheers in unison, and Mama smiles.

 

“Only one problem,” Mama says. “How are we going to fit everyone into one taxi?”

 

“That’s what they make taxi vans for nowadays, Elena,” Papa says, taking his cell phone, a worn black flip one, out of his pocket and starting to dial a number.

 

“Hello, Paulson Taxi Co.?” he asks into the phone’s receiver. “I’d like to book a van for my family, if I could, please? How many? There’s seven, including me. Is that alright? It is? Good. Where? Across from the hospital downtown. Five minutes? Okay, we can wait that long. Where to? The Martinsburg Heights neighborhood across town. You’ll do it? Thank you so very much. How much will it cost? Fifty dollars? That’s fair. See you in five. Thank you, sir.”

 

With that, he hangs up and turns to us. “Okay, everyone, there’ll be a taxi here in five,” he says, smiling broadly at me. You all ready to go? I’m sorry we couldn’t get you all jackets, I promise we can do that within the week.”

 

“It’s alright, Papa,” Alaina says, smiling gently at him. “I understand, surviving a crazy person is much more important than getting jackets, so please don’t worry about it, okay? I’ll take care of myself just fine, and I’m sure my winter coat’ll grow in soon enough, what with this blizzard blowing in.”

 

A few seconds later, a set of lound honks sounds from outside, and we all turn nearly in unison to see that the taxi in here, its much-too-bright headlights glaring extremely whitely through the windows, and we all head out, steeling ourselves against the biting wind, cold, and snow.

 

Once everyone’s in, the driver cranks the heat, and I sigh in relaxation. It’s nice to be warm for once, even if that being warm is a moist heat, anything’s better than freezing my tail off outside.

 

Twenty minutes later, we’re coming in the driveway of home, and thankfully for me, it’s gotten a little warmer (or maybe I’m getting hypothermia and frostbite and I’ve just gone numb to the cold by now, especially considering that I have neither a jacket nor boots.

 

“We’re here, everyone,” Papa says, handing a wad of cash to the driver, who counts through them and nods.

 

We all dive out of the taxi, wind and snow whipping around us and stinging my face and muzzle, making my nose drip and my ears freeze. That’s one of the problems with being a mammal like me- the ears. Sure, I’m a fox, so that means as a predator, I have rather large ears  on top of my head, and considering that I’m not wearing a hat, either…

 

Not fun…

 

As we all dive in through the door after first waiting and shivering while Papa unlocks it, I breathe a sigh of relief. There may be a war on, I may have just gotten out of the hospital, and  may have just had the police not believe me when I told them that my former principal played a vanishing act and was gone, but I’m home, finally.

  
  


“I’m headed to bed, Papa,” I say, making my way up to my room and making sure the door is closed behind me. As I pull my wet clothes off, I catch a glimpse of myself in my stand mirror, and although I’m not not usually one to care the most about my appearance, I have to say that I look like scat: my fur is touseled and dripping wet as the snow melts, and well, there’s one thing about my fur that I didn’t notice earlier- there are little flecks of gray that are starting to show through it, mostly around the end of my tail. I’m hoping it’s just from the stress, because I don’t want to be getting old this young…

 

There are almost a dozen, if I’m counting right, because I’ve found that I’m too tired right about now to think. Who cares about clothes right now? As long as all of these wet clothes and crap are off of the floor, I don’t care.

 

Now I’m going to pass out. If anyone wants me, they can come wake me up, but they’re going to find that I’m a rather cranky and sore son of a vixen if they do.

 

Now to sleep.

 

Before I can fall all the way asleep, though, a thought pops into my head-  _ I hope that Jenna’s okay. _

 

As if I summoned her, I hear a knock at my door, and her soft voice calling for me. “Are you in there, Theo? If you are, do you mind if I join you? I’m tired and cold and just need to curl up with someone…”

 

“That’s fine with me, Jenna, as long as you don’t mind that I’m wet and don’t have any clothes on…”

 

“The wet part, Theo, I don’t mind, and the second isn’t a big deal as long as you don’t end up poking me in the morning,” she says, smiling coyly.

 

“What do you mean by-?” I begin to ask, and then stop as the realization hits me.  _ So that’s what she’s getting at. _

 

“Don’t worry, mate of mine,” I say, “I won’t, and yes,” I say, getting up to get a pair of underwear out of my dresser, settling on one, and putting it on, “I’m decent, if you want to come in.”

 

“I will,” she says, twisting the knob, which rattles softly as it turns, and then she comes in.

 

“You’re beautiful, Jenna,” I tell her as she slides into bed next to me. “Absolutely beautiful, and I know I’ve said it before, know I’m a sappy, sentimental hormone-nuttered fox, but I think it’s true. Thank you so much, Jenna, thank you thank you thank you…,” I say, whispering it into her ear as I give it a soft kiss.

 

“You’re welcome, Theo, and thank _ you _ for letting me be yours,” she whispers back. “Good night, dear, and I love you too,” she says, drifting off to sleep.

 

Not long after, I blink my eyes open to find the bright and hazy sunlight of a cold winter morning streaming in the window, and I blink again, once, twice, clearing my eyes and wondering when I managed to fall asleep, and also where Jenna is, because her side of the bed is empty, and thankfully, there’s no tent in my pants. Good.

 

Wondering where my mate’s gone off too, I push myself out of bed, and my ribs hate it. I know they’re healed, but I think that they’re probably going to bug me like flock whenever winter comes from now on, I’ve heard of that sort of thing happening to people sometimes, but that’s usually to the older ones. Then again, if the gray in my fur is a giveaway of anything-

 

_ Okay, this needs to stop,  _ I internally chide myself.  _ Isaac and Jenna have lived here on Earth for fifteen years, and they’re just as old as me. _

 

Now to go downstairs and stop worrying myself sick.

\--

As I do, my nose picks out whiffs of-  _ sniff sniff sniff-  _ let’s see: pancakes, bacon, sausage, and yep, Jenna’s perfume, all coming from downstairs. Well, I can’t argue with food, especially considering that I haven’t eaten anything since I left the hospital yesterday.

 

Making my way downstairs, I’m expecting to find Mama at the stove cooking everything, but I’m pleasantly surprised to find out that it’s Jenna cooking.

 

“Isn’t it a school day?” I ask.

 

“No, Theo, it’s not a school day again for another two weeks. Here on Earth we get Kitsmas- what we call Christmas- off from school, and we get another week and a half to two weeks off after that. It’s kinda nice, in my opinion, because the winter is the worst part of the year and this is probably going to be the worst part of the winter this year. Ever since those ships showed up, the weather’s been crazy, and I think that they’re responsible. Thankfully, there hasn’t been any new attack, hon, I can see you’re worrying about it.”

 

Yeah, you’re right, sweetheart,” I sigh, “I am.”

 

“And that’s why I made you breakfast,” she says, sliding everything onto two plates and handing them to me. “There’s silverware in the drawer,” she says, leaning over to plant a kiss on my cheeks, and I feel a blush light them up. Seeing as the fur on them is tan, I’m willing to bet that Jenna can see it bright and clear.

 

“Thank you, Jenna,” I say, smiling, “but what are you going to eat?”

 

“Oh, I already made myself breakfast, Theo,” she says. “Are you worried about the kits?”

 

“A little bit,” I say, “but I’m mostly worried about you. That’s not to say that I don’t care about the kits, you know that, right?”

 

“Of course I do, Theo,” she says, her smile never faltering. “Now, please sit and eat, I can tell you’re hungry.”

 

I try to protest, but she’ll have none of it. “It’s okay, Theo, really. I get it, you’re feeling protective, but really, I’m okay. I promise,” she says, holding up three fingers in the scout salute. “On my honor, Theo,” she says, “I’ll be fine, now eat,” she emphasizes, handing me a set of silverware wrapped in a cream and white silk napkin.

 

“Alright, alright, I’ll eat, I’ll eat,” I say, pulling out my chair and sitting at the table to eat breakfast. Everything tastes delicious, which I make sure to let Jenna know.

 

When I’m done, I really want to lick the plate, but I don’t think that that would be a good idea. Back on Terra, that was how you would show your host or whoever cooked the meal that you really enjoy it, but I don’t want to get called a dog, I have enough issues, and my insecurity is just one of them.

 

“Did you enjoy everything, Theo?” Jenna asks, her left paw on her hip and a smile on her muzzle, eyes twinkling

 

“Yes, I did, Jenna,” I say, returning her smile with one of my own. “I don’t know how to say thank you enough for all that you do for me, really….”

 

“I know a way we could,” Jenna says, a mischievous look on her muzzle before shaking her head in disappointment, “but we can’t, at least, not until the next several months go by.”

 

“You’ll just have to settle for kissing me then,” I say, smiling and taking my plates to the sink, plunking them in, and then, I don’t have any time to react before Jenna locks lips with me, pressing them right onto mine.

 

_ Well, that caught me off guard, but hey, I can’t argue with a kiss,  _ I think, pressing my own lips back against hers, and then she decides to take it a step farther, pressing her tongue against my teeth, trying to get it inside my mouth.

 

_ Okay then, Jenna _ , I think,  _ if that’s the way you want to play things, I’m more than willing to go along with it. Two can play at this game! _ I think, pressing my own tongue into Jenna’s mouth, and we keep kissing each other for what feels like an eternity, a sweet, blissful eternity, an eternity that I don’t ever want to end.

 

Unfortunately for me, though, Mama comes in, and the only reason I notice her is because she fake-coughs to get my attention, and both of us jumping backwards in shock and surprise. As I pull my tongue out of Jenna’s mouth, my tongue catches on Jenna’s front incisor and I manage to gash it.

 

“Ow, Mama,” I mutter, feeling my tongue throb softly with every time that my heart beats. “Why’d you have to interrupt us? We were just having a good time together….”

 

“Oh, did I interrupt your private time?” Mama asks, smiling knowingly, her left eyebrow cocked as she smiles.

 

“We were just kissing, Mrs. Maranza,” Jenna says, smiling sheepishly, paw behind her ears. “Please don’t bite our heads off….”

 

“Why would I do that?” Mama asks, smiling sweetly. “Do any of you deserve it?”

 

“I don’t know, do we?” I ask. “You came in here and flat-out demanded to know what we were doing, Mama,” I say, trying to talk around my cut tongue and hoping that she’ll still be able to understand what I’m saying.

“What did you do to your tongue, Theo?” Mama asks, sighing. “Were you French kissing your mate, hmm?”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean, Mama?”

 

“They say that people who live in France are awfully passionate when they kiss, and they like to put their tongues in the mouths of the person they’re kissing. That’s French kissing. Is that what you were doing? Don’t try and tell me that you weren’t, Theo, I see the cut on your tongue.”

 

“Alright, Mama,” I say, sighing. “You caught me, I won’t do it again…”

 

“Theo,” Mama sighs, hand to her forehead, “when, exactly, did you hear the words ‘you’re in trouble’ in what I said? I don’t think I actually said them, did I?”

 

“No, Mama, you didn’t,” I say, my voice barely above a human whisper.

 

“What was that?” she asks, and although she sounds angry, I can see that she’s smiling.

 

“I’m sorry,” she says, cupping a hand to her ear, “but I couldn’t hear you, I must be losing what little hearing I have left in my old age, so speak up, sonny!”

 

“No, Mama, you didn’t,” I say, more loudly this time around. “Was that better, Mama? Could you hear me this time?” I continue, knowing she’s joking with me but deciding to go along with it.

 

“Yes, sonny, I can, so why are you worried about it?”

 

“Because you seemed angry, that’s why, Mama!” I say, feeling my hackles start to rise. “I thought you were mad…”

 

“Oh, my kit, you have much to learn,” she says, patting the couch next to her, and we both sit on the open cushion. “Theo, you know what sarcasm is, right?”

 

“Terrans aren’t funny people, Mama,” I say, “so yeah, I know what it is, but when you grow up in a war zone, where saying anything untoward could get you thrown in jail, you learn to take everything literally….”

 

“I see,” Mama says. “So what’s the best way to teach you some humor, Theo?”

 

“Great question, Mama, really, because I have no idea, I was hoping that you’d have some.”

 

“I could try telling you some jokes, but I don’t know how that would work out, I haven’t really told any jokes ever since my family died. I haven’t really thought it was appropriate for me to be having all the fun when it was my brother and sister who were the silly ones in the family. Me, I was always the oldest sibling, the one expected to go off to war eventually, to become fodder for the front lines. I’m not a good mammal, Mama, so why do you think I’m supposed to be funny?”

 

“Because you’re a wonderful person, Theo, that’s why. Random question for you, by the way-”

 

“Yeah, what is it?”

 

“Why do you keep calling yourself a mammal and not a person?”

 

“Other than the fact that I’m quite obviously not human? I mean, how am I supposed to pretend to be that?”

 

“Who said anything about pretending, Theo?” Mama asks. “Fox or not, human or not, you’re as much of a person as your brother and sisters.”

 

“Thanks, Mama,” I say, sighing and letting out a stressed huff. “I don’t understand myself half the time, I’m stressed and snappy, and I don’t like it one bit.”

 

“Do you need a hug, Theo?” Mama asks, stretching out her arms towards me. “I’ve always found that I hug helps me out quite a bit when I’m in situations like yours.”

 

“You mean that you’ve felt the same way as I have before? I thought that I was just steadily losing it. I’m glad to know that I’m not.”

 

“You’re right, Theo, you’re not, and yes, my kit, I’ve been in the same sort of situations as you. Believe you me, it’s normal at your age, when everything’s starting to go wonky. Lemme guess, you’re wondering why your body keeps screwing with you, why you’re just fine one second and then the next, you feel like you’ve gotten yourself so depressed that you’ll never manage to cheer yourself up again. Does that sound about right?”

 

_ Perfect, actually. _

 

“Yeah,” I say, surprised at how right he is. “How’d you know?”

 

“Because, Theo, like I said, I went through pretty much the same thing when I was your age. It’s not fun, and that’s a gross under-simplification. What’s it like for you?”

 

“Well, here’s the thing, Mama, it’s winter, and for mammals, especially Terrans, there’s that certain point in the year when… well, yeah, I’m sure you’ll get the drift, right?”

 

“Perfectly, like you were saying earlier. Do you want a hug or no, because my arms are getting kinda tired here.”

 

“I’d love one, Mama,” I say, leaning into her arms as she places them around me in a gentle hug.

 

We stay like that for so long that my legs fall asleep, and my tail has a cramp and a kink in it, both in different places, but right now, while I’m sitting here in the arms of the only woman who’s ever really cared enough about me to want me around, I couldn’t care less.

 

“Group hug!” Alaina says, placing her arms around both of us and squeezing us in tight, and then I feel a wet  _ thing _ pressing against my cheek. I try to brush it off, and then realize that it’s another one of Alaina’s enormous wolf licks.

 

“Thanks, sis,” I say, giving her one of my own in return. “I love you all, and I mean that for forever and for always,” I say, smiling, “and as much as I can be a pain the tail, I only do it because I love you.”

 

“And we love you too, Theo. Do you happen to know where everyone else is? I’ve been looking for them all morning,” Alaina asks, giving Mama a look that I can’t seem to figure out, her wink just making me even more confused.

 

“You haven’t seen them? Did they go out somewhere?” I ask, my head now cocked in confusion, almost like a dog would, I suppose.

 

“I don’t know, Theo, I haven’t seen them,” Alaina says, smiling.

 

“What are you smiling f-?” I begin, but then a noise from downstairs catches my attention.

 

“What was that?” I ask. “Did you hear that?”

 

“What was what?” Alaina asks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“How could you not?” I ask, but then I hear another noise, and I stop. “Did you hear tha-?” I begin to ask, but then someone starts singing.

 

“Happy birthday to you,” I hear, then the voice starts again. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Theo, happy birthday to you!” the voice, which I can now tell is coming from Isaac, who’s standing in front of me holding a cake, says.

 

“What’s all this?” I try to ask, hoping I can hide my surprise.

 

“What does it look like it is, ya silly tod?” Jenna asks, popping up and out from behind Isaac. “It’s a birthday cake!”

 

“But who’s it for?” I ask, and then the realization hits me. It’s my birthday cake, I turned sixteen just yesterday.

 

“You, silly,” Jenna says, placing the cake on the side lamp table next to her. “Now blow out the candles and make a wish.”

 

“What should I wish for?” I ask.

 

“I don’t know,” Jenna says. “Anything you want to.”

 

“Anything I want to?”

 

“Anything you want to.”

 

“Okay then,” I say, taking a deep breath.

 

_ I wish for peace. Although that’s probably a bit of wishful thinking… _

 

With that, I let out my breath, and all the candles go out, only to light back up a few seconds later, sparking and popping.

 

“What the-?” I ask, taken aback. “I just blew them out, now what? Are these trick candles or something?”

 

“Yeah, they are,” Isaac says, giving me a ridiculous grin. “You like ‘em?”

 

“Yeah, actually, I do,” I say, trying to blow the darn things out and failing miserably once again. “Seriously, can someone help me with these darn things?”

 

“Sure, Theo,” Jenna says, adding her own breath to the job, and thankfully, five tries later, they finally go out.

 

“Well, now that that’s done,” I ask, “who wants cake?”

 

Everybody does, and so I dish out slices. I wish we had ice cream, but we don’t have power here at home, either, not after what happened back in the hospital. I haven’t heard anything about when (or  _ if _ ) the power’s going to come back on. Thankfully, generators can run on diesel fuel, so we’ve figured out.

 

But back to the topic at paw here- it’s my birthday, and I’m sixteen! That’s wonderful, and I’m alive, which, if I’m being completely honest with myself, is a complete and utter surprise, but I’m more than willing to enjoy it!

 

“Hey, Jenna?” I ask her as we’re sitting at the table together. “I have a question for you.”

 

“Well, then I have an answer for you, so what’s the question?”

 

“Can I kiss you?”

 

“Here?”

 

“Why not?” I ask. “They already know about us?”

 

“Oh, what the heck, sure, I’ll do it,” she says, grabbing the sides of my face and planting a kiss right on the end of my nose, and then another one full on the lips.

 

“Thank you,” I whisper, smiling, as the rest of the family starts to clap softly, and Isaac even adds in a soft whistle of approval of his own.

 

“You know, Theo,” Alaina says, smiling a little more sadly than the rest, “she’s perfect for you.”

 

“Thank you, Alaina,” I say, smiling and giving her a hug. “You’re always going to be my best friend, you know. You’re not being replaced.”

 

“That’s good to know,” she says, her face brightening. “Since everyone was all busy yesterday, I think there’s a celebration in order, what do all of you think?”

 

“What do you mean, Alaina?” I ask her. “I’ve never really celebrated either Kitsmas  _ or _ my birthday, seeing as my family didn’t have the money.”

 

“Then I guess it’s lucky for all of us that we’re having Kitsmas and your birthday all in one, right?”

 

“I can’t argue with that, sis.”

 

“You know,” Alaina says, smiling at me, “it’s just now sinking in how true that is now.”

 

“How true what is?” I ask.

 

“You called me sis, silly. Now I actually am, and I heard Mama talking to Papa last night about going down to the adoption office and making it official, and I can’t wait.”

 

Of course, we’re still at the table, and so, even though she’s whispering the news to me at a canid range, there are two other canids at this table, and they can hear just as well as us.

 

“That’s great news, both of you,” Jenna says. “Here, group hug!”

 

“Ack! Jenna!” Mama says as Jenna reaches across the table for a hug. “Not at the table, please! You’re pulling me into the edge!”

 

“Oh!” Jenna says, quickly letting go of Mama and getting up from the table, and I do the same, and before long, everybody’s in the middle of an enormous hug.

 

“Thanks, everyone,” I say from my spot being squished in the middle. “I needed this.”

\--

 

An hour later, after everyone’s done eating supper and the blueberry pie a la mode that Mama made for another dessert (side note: foxes love blueberries, or at least this one does), all the dishes are either cleaned and drying or in the dishwasher, and the tablecloth is in the washer ready to be cleaned, Mama leads everyone into the living room, where I see an enormous tree, all decked out with lights and ornaments, and it takes me a minute to realize that it’s a Kitsmas- er, Christmas tree. I’ve never seen one so decked out and dressed to the nines, and I have to say that it puts a smile on my face, one of the rather few genuine smiles that I’ve had during the time that I’ve been on Earth.

 

It’s sad to say that it feels odd to be happy, but it’s true. Time to take a deep breath or ten, I suppose, because I need to relax.

 

_ In, out, in, out…. _

_ That’s better. _

 

“Thanks for this, Mama,” I say. “My first Christmas.”

 

“You haven’t had Christmas before?”

 

“My mother had a hard enough time trying to raise the three of us and pay the bills- always more bills, especially after my father died, and her resentment didn’t help anything. I want to forgive her, but, well, there’s no chance that that’ll ever happen.”

 

“What do you mean? Why can’t you?”

 

“I’d rather not talk about it. Knowing me, I’ll go off on some depressing ‘oh, woe is me’ tangent, and no one needs to deal with that again. I’d rather focus on the positives from here on out. But to answer your question, no, I haven’t had Kitsmas- Christmas- before, and I’m looking forward to it. Who opens what first?”

 

“Who’s the youngest?” Mama asks. “That’s usually the order we go in, youngest to oldest.”

 

“Um, I don’t know, actually. Alaina, when’s your birthday?”

 

“Three days after the spring equinox. When would that be?”

 

“March Twenty-Fourth,” Mama says. “Theo, yours is today, so the day after Kitsmas, right?”

 

“Right,”  I say.

 

“And Isaac and Jenna, when’s your birthday, and which one of you is older? I’m assuming you’re twins?”

 

“Yeah, we are, Mama M.,” Jenna says. “I know that I’m the older one, or at least, that’s what my mom’s told me, and our birthdays are actually two different ones. I’m New Year’s Eve, my screwball brother’s is New Year’s Day.”

 

“Alrighty then, so that makes Isaac the youngest, then you, Jenna, then Theo, then last but not least, Alaina. Isaac, you’re first.”

 

“Alright, so which one of these is for me?” he asks, his tail wagging happily. “I’ve never seen so many before… thank you, Mrs. Maranza, thank you!”

 

“You’re very welcome, Isaac, and to answer your question, it’s the large box in the red and green polka-dot wrapping.”

 

“The one with the white bow?”

 

“That’s the one!” Mama says, and Isaac picks it up and begins to tear it open enthusiastically, shreds of wrapping paper going everywhere.

 

“Whoa, easy there, Isaac, you don’t have to kill it dead there, bro,” Jenna says, laughing. “What is it, anyways?”

 

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out, sis,” Isaac says, sticking his tongue out at her. “So gimme a second, would you?”

 

A few more moments of tugging off wrapping paper later and Isaac has a box of books at his paws, as well as a backpack to put them in, plus the Two Worlds’ biggest grin plastered on his muzzle.

 

“Thank you, Mrs. M, thank you!” he says, giving her a hug, but more gently this time. “Thank you!”

 

“You’re welcome, Isaac,” Mama says. “I hope you enjoy them all.”

 

“I’m sure I will, Mrs. Maranza, thank you!”

 

“You’re welcome, young one. Jenna, yours is the yellow and blue box.”

 

“Okay,” Jenna says, picking the box up from behind her. “What is it?”

 

“Why don’t you shake it and see what you can find out, hmm?”

 

“Nah,” she laughs, “I think I’ll just open it now.”

 

When she does, her whole face lights up, and she laughs. “It’s perfect, thank you, Mrs. M!”

 

“What is it?” I ask. “Show us, Jenna, pleeease?” I say, giving her my best sad puppy impression.

 

“Oh, no, not the puppy eyes, Theo, no, those are my only weakness!” Jenna says, laughing and showing us her present- something that I don’t recognize. It looks like it has a keyboard like a computer, but it has round wheels on the sides and no screen.

 

“What is that thing?” I ask. “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen anything quite like it.”

 

“It’s a typewriter,” Jenna says. “It’s what humans used to write on before there were computers and word-processing software.”

 

“How’s it work?” Isaac asks, his curiosity piqued as well.

 

“Well, basically, it has the keyboard, which works like a regular computer keyboard does, you press the keys, it makes a letter. The difference is that this uses little reels, so when you hit that key, it stamps a mark into that reel and some ink is left on paper in the shape of the letter. Geez, explaining this makes me feel so  _ old _ .”

 

“You think you feel old, Jenna, wait ‘til you get to be around my age!” Mama laughs. “I thought you might enjoy it, I’ve seen how you’re always scribbling down story notes.”

 

“You’re right, I do, and I can’t wait to get started, Mrs. M.!” Jenna says, smiling.

 

“I’m glad,” Mama says. “Theo, my son, it’s your turn. Yours is the blue one with white star wrapping.”

 

“Got it,” I say, feeling a swell of anticipation in my chest.  _ I wonder what’s going to be inside this box of mine… _

 

I unwrap it, and inside, I find a sketchbook and a pack of drawing pencils.

 

“Do you like it, Theo?” Mama asks. “I thought you might.”

 

“You’re right, Mama, I do, thank you!” I say, smiling and giving her a hug of my own, feeling my tail start to swish back and forth behind my back in  _ waaaay _ too much excitement.

 

“Darn thing…” I say, swatting at it and try to catch it, hold it still for a second maybe, so that way I’ll stop embarrassing myself.

 

“Let it be, Theo and show some emotion for once, man, let it go!” Isaac says, smiling. “We’re mammals. Our body wants to show emotion whether we want it to or not. Our ears are like little radar dishes, our tails like little flags flying to give away all of our feelings. It’s annoying, believe me, I know; there have been plenty of times when I’ve hated having a tail and ears like this, times that I’ve wished and hoped and prayed with all my might before I went to bed at night that I would wake up in the morning and find that I was a human, because then my body couldn’t ever give me away.

 

“But you know what?” he continues, “I’m not human, nor will I ever be or need to be. I’m a wolf, so yeah, my body’s going to do things that I don’t want it to, and especially my tail, that’s the worst part, but I’ve had to deal with it for my entire life. There was no having to train and learn to fight those instincts, there was just me as a little wolf pup getting pet on the head and told that I was a good boy, and ‘who knew that dogs could talk? Must be he’s a Terran crossbreed,’ and then I would always get a pat on the head and a scratch behind the ears, and my tail would start going, and everyone would always say I was  _ soooo _ cute and  _ such _ a good boy. It drove me nuts, but if anything, it taught me to just let some things go, and you know what, Theo?”

 

“What?”

 

“That was probably the smartest thing that I ever learned to do, to let things go, because if I were to try and hang on to everything that ever made me mad, I’d be an even crazier fluffing ball of nerves than I am, so seriously, let it go!”

 

“Alright, alright, I will,” I say, and then part of what Isaac just said sinks through my skull and into my mind. “Wait, you’re nervous right now?”

 

“Well, no, but I think you know what I mean, right? You remember the day that I first met you, how much of a mess I was and how you gave me some advice, told me that the world wasn’t always going to stack the deck in my favor but I could always figure out what to do with the hand that I’d gotten?”

 

“Yeah, I do,” I say, smiling at that recollection. “Why do you ask?”

“Because, Theo,” Isaac says, his smile a little sadder now, “you’re not taking your own advice. Cheer up and take your own advice, for goodness’ sakes!”

 

“You win, Mister Happy Wolf,” I say, smiling now, any thoughts of doom and gloom gone from my mind, my own tail picking up its pace. Here, what’s in this box?”

 

I open my present, and inside, I find several different things- a stack of canvases, an easel, and an art kit. I don’t know what one of those is, I’ve never had one. A quick glimpse at its label, and I can see that it has more art supplies inside than I’ve ever seen all at once- colored pencils, graphite pencils, and lots of little tubes of paint.

 

_ Well, I can certainly make use of this, _ I think.  _ I’ve never really thought of myself as an artist, but obviously Mama and Papa do. _

 

Before I can think about it for any longer or even get up to give Mama and Papa a hug, Papa holds up a finger to stop me.

 

“Hang on a minute there, Theo,” he says, smiling. “There’s one more present that we’d like to give you, but there’s only one condition.”

 

“What’s that?” Alaina asks, her ears perking up in confusion.

 

“You have to share,” Papa says, handing her a thin envelope.

 

“What is it?” she asks, her confusion only seeming to grow.

 

“Why don’t you open it and find out, my daughter?” Mama asks, smiling warmly and openly at her. “If you’re so curious, why wait?”

 

“Great question, Mama,” Alaina says, taking a claw and using it to rip open the top of the envelope.

 

“What’s inside, Alaina?” I ask her, feeling my curiosity start to tug at me.

 

“It’s two folded pieces of cream paper,” she says, pulling them out and unfolding them. When she looks at what they say, her jaw drops, and she starts crying, the tears dripping down off of her cheeks and onto the floor.

 

“What?” I ask. “What is it? Why are you crying, Alaina?”

“You’ll see when you read yours, Theo,” she says, handing me the other piece of paper, and when I read it, yep, Alaina’s right, I’d figure out what she meant.

 

At the top of the paper, it reads ‘Adoption Certificate,’ with my name as the adoptee and Mama’s and Papa’s as the people adopting, which means-

 

_ Which means, holy scat holy scat holy scat, _ I think, the implications sinking in,  _ this makes it official. I’m Mama and Papa’s son, and so is Alaina. Alaina’s going to be my sister, I don’t have to go back to the front lines. I’m safe, finally. _

 

_ Finally, after sixteen years, I have a family again, and yep,  _ I think as Alaina leaps on top of me in an enormous hug, her licks wetting my cheeks,  _ I have a home. _

 

“Thank you, Mama, thank you so much!” I say, smiling as my own tears starting to cloud my eyes and as a swell of pure, undiluted joy comes and fills my chest up.

 

“You’re welcome, Theo, my son,” she says, her own smile radiant. “Now when should we expect the little ones?”

 

“Ah, Mama!,” I say, feeling my cheeks heat up in a blush, “Do we have to do this now?”

 

“I was just curious, Theo, because it means I’m going to be a grandma!”

 

“Does this mean that I get to be Aunty Alaina?”

 

“Yes, it does, and Isaac, you’ll be Uncle Isaac.”

 

“Do you know how many, Jenna?” Mrs. Neve asks. “I get to be a grandma too, and I’m excited beyond my wildest dreams, you know!”

 

“I know, Mom,” Jenna says, smiling and rolling her eyes. “And here I thought that I was supposed to be the emotional one, seeing as I’m the pregnant mammal out of all of us, and to answer your question, I think two or three. Usually, that’s the litter size, but we’ll see in about eight months or so.”

 

“Well, congrats anyways, Theo, Jenna, and I know you both are going to be wonderful parents.”

 

_ I sure hope so, I don’t want to mess my kits up like I’ve managed to do to myself. Granted, I’m getting better, but if there’s one trait that I absolutely flat-out refuse to pass on to them, it’s this lead myself in ever-tightening spirals of worry mindset. _

 

_ Geez, now I’m thinking like a dad. _

 

_ Ah, well, I put myself there, I’m not going to pull out early. _

 

“So who’s next?” I ask, trying to focus on the reality at paw, not my thoughts.

 

“Of the kits, there’s just Alaina,” Mama says, smiling at her. “I know I gave you what was probably your biggest present already, but there’s something else there for you too.”

 

“Oh, I can’t wait to see what it is,” Alaina says, tearing her own package open, and inside, there’s the only present that doesn’t have anything to do with books. Well, it could, but it’s not books and it can’t produce books, that’s what I’m trying to say. Instead, Alaina has an enormous quilt that it looks like all of us could probably curl up under together and still have enough space between us where we could move and hit each other.

 

In other words, it’s huge, and from the way it’s sewn, I don’t think that this is a store-bought quilt.

 

“Mama,” Alaina asks, smiling in surprise and joy, “did you sew all of this yourself? It looks wonderful!”

 

“Well, no, not exactly,” Mama says, smiling at Papa. “Your Papa helped me out by holding the needles, passing the scissors, double- and triple-checking my measuring, so like I was saying, no, not just me.”

 

“Elena, just take credit for once,” Papa says, his mustache ends pointing up from the ends of his smile. “You do enough work and then always give the credit to someone else. I just helped you out a little, you were the wonderful one who did all of the actual work.”

 

“Oh, fine, then, I will,” Mama says, giving him a playful chuck on the shoulder. (Thankfully it’s gentle, Alaina’s given me a few of those herself, and my shoulder always throbs for an hour or three afterwards.) “You win.”

 

“I’m glad I do,” Papa says. “So yes, Alaina, she made it all herself.”

 

“How long did this enormous thing even take you, Mama?” I ask. “I haven’t seen you sewing at all, and this couldn’t have taken any less than two or three months.”

 

“You do realize that I’ve had quite a bit of free time the last couple of months, right, Theo?” Mama asks. “When I wasn’t in the hospital visiting with you and everyone else, I was here at home, sitting in rocking chair here by the fireplace, sewing away to my heart’s content.  _ That’s _ how I got everything done.”

 

“Well, Mama,” Alaina says, wrapping the blanket around herself so that way only the very end of her white-tipped tail shows from underneath it, “I love it, and there’s only one problem.”

 

“What’s that?” Mama asks, her forehead wrinkled in surprise.

 

“How am I even supposed to carry this gigantic thing?”

 

“That’s an excellent question, my pup,” Mama says. “You’re asking the wrong person, human, mammal, or otherwise, because I have absolutely no idea.”

 

“Great,” Alaina says, laughing theatrically. “I guess I’m just going to have to drown in the darn thing then. Oh no,” she says, hugging herself in it and thrashing around, “it’s got me. I’m lost. Tell the husband and kits that I loved them, that I’ll always love them, I’ll always love them, I’ll always love them, and I have to go now!”

 

“No, Alaina,” Isaac says, smiling energetically. “Don’t go into the light! I can save you!”

 

“It’s too late for me, Isaac,” she says, putting a dramatic paw to her forehead. “I think that the lights are going to go out for me soon. Make sure they all cry for me at my funeral!”

 

“But no!” Isaac says, _really_ getting into the act now. “ I can save you, Alaina, for I know CPR! Of course, that means mouth-to-mouth!” With that, he plants a kiss full on Alaina’s lips, and everyone gasps in surprise. What makes us even more surprised, though, is that, instead of socking him in the nose like I think everyone else was expecting, she takes his embrace and holds him closer, kissing him in return.

 

_ That’s _ the real shocker.

 

“Whoa, what just happened there?” Isaac asks, breaking off the kiss and gasping for air as his tail starts whipping back and forth so fast it looks like a tan fan stuck straight out behind him.

 

“Your first kiss, silly,” Alaina says, snagging his lips back for another kiss. “My first kiss too, and well, I’d do it again!”

 

“Not now, please,” Isaac asks, smiling giddily. “My head’s gone light, I think I might pass out now. Why can’t I kiss you again?”

 

“Because my body’s riding so high on endorphins right now that I think I’d pass out too. I’ve had enough of hospitals, and I wasn’t even the one that was stuck there. I can’t imagine what it would be like to actually be the patient…”

 

“You wouldn’t like it, Alaina, I can promise you that much at the very least,” I say. “I don’t want to go back there, and I don’t want you to have to, I don’t want anyone to have to.”

 

“Okay, Mister Worry Fox,” Jenna says, catching my lips with a kiss of her own, “we get it, you don’t need to get your tail in a twist, I’m fine, they’re fine, you’re fine…”

 

“Fine, fine, fine,” I say. “So what next?”

 

“It’s time for you to open your birthday presents, that’s what,” Mama says, pointing her index finger at another box. “There are a few things inside that box, and all of them go together. Go ahead and open it, I hope you like it.”

 

“I’m sure I will, Mama,” I say, tearing the sky-blue wrapping paper and bow off of the box. When I get it all the way open, I see only a black fabric bag with two zippers on top.

 

“What is this?” I ask, confused.

 

“Open it up and see,” Papa says.

 

I do, and my own face lights up when I see that it’s a camera, and some flash cards, plus some batteries and the bag to keep all of the stuff in.

 

“We thought you might like that, Theo,” Mama says. “Everyone,” she continues, addressing all of us mammals, “is a wonderful, brilliant, creative, and most of all, unique person. I hope everyone enjoys their gifts and finds good uses for them.”

 

“Oh, I will, Mama,” I say, smiling. “Don’t you worry.”

  
  


“That’s asking an awful lot of me, you know, my kit,” Mama says. “I’m your mother, it’s my job to worry.”

 

“That’s fair, Mama,” I grumble. “You win, I’ll leave it.”

 

“Yes, that’s a good boy,” Mama says, smiling, and I know she’s joking, but when she gets a look at the face Isaac’s giving her, her own quickly morphs to a cock-headed look of confusion. “What’s the matter, Isaac? Did I say something that I shouldn’t have?”

 

“Yes,” Isaac says, letting out a huff. “Please don’t call me a good boy, it makes me feel like I’m worth no more than a dog.”

 

“I’m sorry, really, I didn’t mean anything by it…,” Mama says, her voice begging for forgiveness. “I won’t say it again.”

 

“I know, Mrs. Maranza,” Isaac says. “It just brought those bad memories back again is all.”

 

“Shit,” Mama says, “and you brought that up before, too. Shit, I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t be, Mrs. M,” Isaac says. “I know you didn’t mean anything, I….,” he trails off, his ears drooping. “I’m used to it.”

 

“Isaac, please,” Mama says, frowning and spreading her arms wide, beckoning him in for a hug. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it.”

 

“I know, I know, it just…,” he sniffles, taking Mama’s hug. “I know that I shouldn’t be letting it get to me so much, but some things just hurt your feelings, you know?”

 

“I do, Isaac, I do,” Mama says, wiping away Isaac’s tears and stroking his head. “When I was your age, young man, I had to wear a retainer. If you don’t know what that is, have you seen what a football helmet looks like, how it has that face mask?”

 

“Yeah, I do. What does that have anything to do with headgear?”

 

“I’m getting there. So anyways, headgear pretty much looks like the lower part of the football helmet mask, only it’s attached right to your teeth. It’s supposed to help straighten out crooked teeth, but that didn’t stop everybody in the entire building from laughing at me because they thought that I looked ridiculous. ‘Hey, brace yourselves, everybody,’ one of my bullies would shout as I went down the hallway, ‘here comes the quarterback with her helmet on.’

“It was probably some of the worst parts of my entire life, and I’m nearly forty-nine. From then on, though, whenever somebody mentioned a ‘brace’ of any sort, I, for whatever reason, though they were talking about me. So what I’m trying to say, Isaac,” Mama says, taking Isaac’s head in her hands and once again facing his eyes so that they look directly into hers, “is there are some things in this world that are going to make you mad, but you have to let some things slide, young pup. You’ll be a very angry young wolf if you go out into the world and you’re angry at everyone that’s going to slight you. I don’t want you to be that kind of mammal. I saw the same thing happen with my own brother, I don’t want it to happen to you, too. You’re part of this family now, which means that you’re not going to get away from me that easily. Come on, Isaac, what’s wrong? And don’t you even think about trying to tell me ‘nothing,’ young man, because I know a lie when I see one.”

 

“You know,” Isaac mutters, seemingly off-handedly, “a fox can fit in a locker if you stuff him hard enough, and I’ve heard that they’re really dark inside.”

 

“Isaac,” Alaina asks, adding her own paw to his shoulder. “I’m really curious as to how you know that. Did you get stuffed in one?”

 

“What?” Isaac asks nervously, his eyes flitting back and forth between all of us mammals and humans present. “I have no idea what you’re all talking about.”

 

“Isaac….” I say, raising my eyebrows at him. “We’re not going to be mad at you, you know. Come on, tell us the truth please. All we want to do is help, I promise.”

 

“I’m glad to know, because our new principal isn’t quite as sadistic as the other one, but he’s still very much anti-Terran. I told him what happened, that that same hulk of a kid that you said threw you across the cafeteria all those weeks and months ago.”

 

“That tailhole?” I sputter, hating the way that this conversation is going but feeling like it needs to be said, that the air needs to be cleared. “I thought that that flocking idiot got his fluffing arse expelled, but he didn’t?”   
  


“No, he didn’t. He got suspended for what he to you, so I’ve heard, but no, he’s not gone for good. He got detention for a week for what he did to me, but that was about it.”

 

“Great…. just great,” I mutter, feeling a flash of fear come over me, but I take a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “So is he gonna come after me when I get back to school or something like that?” I ask. “Because if he is, ‘m more than willing to transfer schools. I’m not dealing with that guy again.”

 

“I guess that it’s lucky for you that he’s been suspended for the next two weeks then,” Isaac says. “I hate having to make acquaintances with the cold steel insides of lockers, I really do, which is why I was so darn excited to hear that the tailhole had gotten booted, at least for a little while.”

 

“I can’t argue with you there, Isaac,” I say. “Here, group hug!”

 

“You’re on!” Isaac says, stretching out his own arms to give me a hug, and I give him one back. A few seconds later, I’m in the middle of an enormous hug, everybody reaching out their arms to give each other support. Me, being in the middle, well, that means that I get quite the hug, and I feel all of the stress running out of me. It runs out of me just like all of the pain does, all of the self-doubt and hatred, and it leaves my mind more at peace than I think it’s been at in a Terran decade, since before I went to school, before this spiral of messes began.

 

I finally have a family, though, and yeah, I know that I keep thinking that, but it’s true, finally.

\--

The rest of the day flies right by, the freezing cold of the morning melting slightly as the thermometer goes up and the sun comes out, thank goodness. I hate this weather, and I always have, mostly because my family couldn’t ever afford coats, and me, being as thin and wiry as I am, I couldn’t ever get a good thick fur coat of my own.

 

By the time night comes, it’s back to freezing outside, but I decide to risk it. I haven’t seen the stars in years, seeing as the smoke and other  _ scat _ that was always in Terra’s atmosphere from all of the wars going on obscured everything and made it nearly impossible to see anything.

 

I also signed up for this Venturing program when I was young, well, young _ er _ , so I didn’t really get the chance to go outside and see the world much after I turned ten or so. In fact, I think this might actually be the first time that I’ve gotten the opportunity in all of my sixteen years to see a wintertime night sky, and I have to say that it’s beautiful.

 

Apparently, Jenna thinks so too, because she’s gazing up at the stars with an awestruck look in her eyes, and when she turns to look at me, the smiles only grow wider, my own included among them.

 

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they, Theo?” she asks, and I shake my head.

 

“Why not?” she asks. “I sure think they are, and you don’t?”

 

“Well, they  _ are _ beautiful,” I whisper softly into her ear, “but not nearly as beautiful as you, Jenna.”

 

“You’re a sap, Theo,” she whispers back, nibbling on the corner of my ear, which just makes certain parts of me heat up despite the cold.

 

“Please stop, Jenna,” I whisper back. “You’re making me uncomfortable…”

 

“That’s not my problem right now, that’s yours. You’re the male mammal in this relationship, not me. Isn’t it the expression that men are supposed to be the ones wearing pants in a relationship?”

 

“There are two problems with that, Jenna,” I whisper back, hoping that nobody hears us. A, it’s kinda hard to think like this, and B, I think that you’re dealing with just the same troubles as I am right now. Am I right, or am I right?”

 

“You’re right,” Jenna whispers back to me. “But you’re right, Theo,” she says, “the stars really are beautiful tonight, but I’m getting cold. Will you take me back inside?”

 

“More than gladly,” I say, taking her paw and leading her back inside, both of us sighing in relief as the warmth of the inside seeps through our fur and into our bones. “Is this better, Jenna?” I ask her, but then I catch a twinkle in the corner of those blue, blue eyes of hers, and I know what she’s thinking.

 

“IF you want a kiss, Jenna,” I tell her, returning the smile, “you can have as many as you want. I know you want a lot more than that, but you’re not going to get it from me for a while now.”

 

“Aww, darn it,” she pouts, putting on her best ‘sad fox, poor me fox’ face. “I was really hoping for a kiss or a million, at the very least. Can you give me that?”

 

“I can,” I say, giving her a kiss full on the mouth and then another peck, then another and another and another and another on the nose, cold and wet under my affections.

 

“Is that enough for you, Jenna?”

 

“No, it’s not, Theo. Bedroom, now.”

 

“What?”

 

“You heard me,” she says, smiling coyly. “Bedroom,  _ now! _ ”

 

“Yes, Ma’am!” I say, giving her a mock salute and running off to my bedroom, Jenna hot on my tail.

\--

 

Twenty minutes later finds us curled up in each other’s arms underneath the blankets after having covered each other in kisses pretty much anywhere. I don’t know what’s making me so passionate, but I know that I’m not going to fight it any longer. I’ve already taken the first step, and I’m pretty sure that someone’s going to have to go a step farther eventually. We foxes don’t claim and mate with someone unless we know that we’re going to stay with them for the rest of our lives. I don’t know what term humans use when they pledge themselves to someone else, but we foxes tell the mammal we’re marrying that we will treasure them ‘til death do us part.

 

I have no intention of ever leaving Jenna’s side, ever, even if death does manage to part us. If I die, I swear that I’ll find some way to get back, I will.

 

I love her, and I know she loves me.

 

I’m never letting go of that.

 

Yes, I may be a bundle of nerves, yes, I can spin myself into a tizzy without realizing it until I’ve already spun far out of control, and yes, I can be a bit of socially blundering mess, and yes, I can turn the smallest molehills into enormous mountains, but yes, I am me, I am going to come out of this stronger than ever before, and I’m not going to let my pains grow any more. They’ve already tried to consume me, but I won’t let them.

 

I am Theo Aspen. I am proud to be a fox, and I am proud to say that yes, I’m a little loopy, but hey, aren’t we all a little bit?

 


	8. Chapter Eight: Flock This

Chapter Eight: Flock This

 _Okay, first day back at school. Oh boy, I can't wait,_ I think as I'm standing out in the cold, small flakes of snow whipping around me, but I can't catch one, and my tongue's getting cold. I don't know if Jenna's having any more luck than I am, but she looks like she's having fun, at least, which brings a smile to my muzzle.

"Hey, Jenna?" I ask her, scooping up a pawful of snow and hiding it behind my back.

"What, Theo?" she asks, curious.

"I hope you like snow," I say, throwing my hidden weapon at her, and it hits her square in the chest.

"You screwball," she says, lobbing one back. "I'm not sure that this is such a good idea…," she continues. "You know what I mean, right?"

"Oh, geez," I say, facepawing. "Yeah, I do."

"Here, I'll watch," she says, going to stand under the enormous now bare of leaves oak tree that stands a few feek back from the sidewalk. "Okay, I'm clear!"

"And I'm in!" Tony shouts, whipping a snowball right at Alaina, and it splatters into a wet mess on her back.

"Oh, no you don't!" she laughs, throwing one right back. "You're not going go get away with that one!"

"Oh, I'm not, am I?" Tony asks, laughing. "Fine, then, I'm just going to need to start a snowball fight!" With that, he scoops up two more pawfuls of snow, and before I can blink, the world goes white and cold as one of those pawfuls of snow, in the form of a snowball, splats right into my face.

"If a fight's what you want," I cry, "then a fight's what you're going to get!"

_And plenty of wet fur, too, but the bus is running late, and flock, who cares? It's starting to come down harder, and the roads are crap._

_Speaking of that, I heard that there was an accident on the highway about a mile from the school, so maybe that has something to do with it?_

_Eh, I don't know, I'm too busy enjoying myself in the snow here to care. Ah ha!_   _Got him!_  I think, landing a snowball right on the back of Isaac's neck, and he shivers as the glob starts to melt, the water soaking through his fur, and he brushes it off, shivering and smiling.

"Hey, Theo?" he asks.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know when the bus is coming? I'm starting to feel like we've been out here for forever, not that I mind, really, but the weather's starting to get a little worse and there's still no sign of the bus. When is it supposed to come, anyways?"

"What time  _is_  it, anyways? The bus's supposed to come around seven thirty or so."

"Well," Isaac says, checking a watch that I didn't even notice that he had on, "it's only quarter of eight, so no worries. Maybe the weather's just a little rougher over at the school."

"Or maybe," Jenna says, water from melted snow dripping off of the end of her snout, an enormous grin plastered on her muzzle, "maybe, just maybe, we'll have a snow day."

"What's a snow day?" I ask, and nearly everyone looks at me as if I'm crazy.

"Are you scattin'?" Tony asks, incredulous. "Do you really not know what a snow day is?"

"Um… I… no," I stammer. "I don't know what a snow day is."

"Your school life must've really sucked, Theo," Jenna says from her spot under the oak tree.

"Well, yeah, it did, but seriously, my school never closed for anything, not even snow. Blizzard? Bah! To my superintendent, nothing was an excuse for us not to be in our seats in school, ready for class by the ringing of the first bell at ten of eight."

"Not even snow?"

" _Especially_  not snow, and even if the weather was absolute scat. We would always be in school, no excuses, no exceptions, and my former principal would say."

"Which principal?" Isaac asks. "Was it Mister Marlboro? I sure hope it wasn't…"

"Don't worry, it wasn't," I say. "This was back on Terra, and besides, I'm seriously hoping that I don't have to deal with him, whatever he is, again, because I'm willing to bet anything and everything that he's not human."

"He sure didn't look it to me. When was the bus supposed to come, anyways?" Isaac asks.

"I have no idea, man," I say. "Why don't I go find out?"

"Sounds fine to me, Theo," Isaac says, but before I can do just that, Mama comes to the door, dressed in her favorite bathrobe (the polka dot one) and slippers.

"What is it, Mama?" I ask. "Have any news for us?"

"Yes, actually, I do," she says. "I just got a phone call from your new principal. He seems nice, by the way, and he says that school is….," she trails off.

"Yeah, Mama?" Alaina says, begging for more. "Come on, please tell us!"

"He says that school is cancelled for today, and also for the rest of the week. Seems like in addition to the damage that the invasion fleets caused, this cold made the pipes freeze and burst all over the floors, and now they have to replace all of them, which also means waiting on a flooring shipment, he said. How's that sound?"

Instead of words, we all cheer, and then we go back to plastering each other with snowballs.

Four or so hours later, we're all so soaked through that our jackets have turned into ice armor, and for those of us that didn't have jackets to begin with (which includes me, myself and I), the jackets that Mama let us borrow from Papa's closet are even worse. I can barely move, my jacket is so darn frozen.

I can still waddle, though, that's a plus. Now just to get inside before my tail cracks when I hit it the wrong way. I swear, I'm probably frostbitten everywhere, but hey, there's a first time for everything, right?

I'm trying to let more things slide in my life; not feel like I need to have so much control over everything, and ever since I started that about six weeks or so ago, I've found that life is a lot easier.

Only thing is that now my voice is starting to crack!

Yay, fun-  _eep!_

Yeah, that was another one, and I wasn't even trying to say anything. Apparently, even thinking about voice cracks makes one's voice crack.

NOT. FUN.

Ah, well, it isn't the worst thing in the Worlds, that's for sure. No, that's being under invasion by something that no one seems to understand, not even the military men in the Pentagon that have spent entire lives as part of this country's armed forces, according to the emergency broadcasts that the government has put out.

They've been broadcasting news bulletins ever since the first attack, and speaking of them, there still hasn't been another, and the explanations as to why are still few and far-fetched between.

Quite honestly, I don't really  _want_  to know anything about the war so much as I think I kinda have to, seeing as it's Terra versus Earth, after all. That means fur is going to fly, and I mean that just about as literally as possible.

"Theo, what's that?" Jenna asks, her voice breaking me out of my thoughts.

"What's what?" I ask, then see what she's pointing at. There's a set of meteors heading for Earth, and I don't think that they're just chunks of space rock that are falling through the atmosphere.

"Um…" I stutter, my voice and mind failing me again. "I don't know, but I'm gonna guess that they're probably more ships. More Terran invaders, yay! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go cower in fear in the basement like any sane mammal would do."

"Oh, no you don't," she says, grabbing ahold of my arm and refusing to let go no matter how hard I tug. "You're not running away this time, Theo. You're going to face your fears head on, and you're going to get over them."

"Well, at the very least, you could let me change my clothes, eh?"

"Try to hurry, I don't want to get blown to bits before you get back."

She says that so nonchalantly that, did I not know her, I would think that she was just being silly, and of course, in a small way, she is, trying to make light of what I know that I'm terrified of, and I'm sure that every sane person will be terrified of as well.

That said, I'm kinda scared now, and so I strip off all of my frozen clothes, hastily throwing them onto a radiator by the door, then dash upstairs to my room, yanking dry and hopefully clean clothes out of my drawers, then throw those on, rush to the closet to find winter clothes that will fit me, and then run back outside, hoping I don't chafe my tail off.

A few words of warning: if you're a mammal with a tail like mine, make sure that the clothes you have on have a hole for your tail, because otherwise, you end up with an enormous amount of static cling.

Yeah, metal shocks if you're all charged with static like me.

Thankfully, though, it doesn't shock too badly, although my paw's going to be hurting for a little while.

When I get outside, everybody's now come out to the porch to see what's going on. Thankfully, the lights, the ships, whatever they could be, are just hovering in the sky. I have no idea how far up they are, but thankfully, they're not coming closer. I don't want to think about what they could do, but who knows what's going to happen?

Not me.

Tired to the bone, I head back inside and decide to lay my head down for a second, only to find morning's light streaming in the windows.

"Oh, crap," I mutter, throwing my nest of blankets that I've managed to curl up around me over the course of the night right off. "Crap, crap, crap, I was trying to stay up…"

"It didn't work so well, did it?" Papa asks, opening my bedroom door and smiling wearily in at me.

"What didn't?"

"You trying to stay up and see what was going on outside."

"Yeah, you're right," I sugh, "it didn't, and now I'm  _tired._ "

"I can't blame you, Theo. By the way, the newspaper's on the kitchen table if you want to catch up on the news, and I've got the TV on out in the living room if that's what you'd prefer.

"Both are fine, thanks," I say. "What time even is it, anyways?"

"It's just after eleven in the morning, you've been out for the last fourteen or so hours."

"Really?" I whistle. "That long?"

"That long," Papa nods. "Come on out, I think your mate wants to see you."

 _That_  gets my attention, so I dash out to the kitchen, stubbing my toes as I go, and the only reason I know that I did at all is because of the rebound that I feel in the rest of my leg. My toes have no feeling whatsoever, but I don't think that they're completely frostbitten.

Another thing to add to that list of 'Things I Don't Need To Worry About Anymore.'

You know what I  _do_  need to worry about?

Jenna, that's what.

"Are you coming, Theo?" she calls from the kitchen. "I've been cooking all morning and I'm not going to stop until you come in here and eat…"

"Yes ma'am!" I say, scurrying to do what I've been told. When I make it to the kitchen, I see Jenna standing at the stove, beads of sweat pearling on her forehead, and I run over to give her a paw.

"Jenna, seriously," I say. "You look worn to the bone, so please, take a break and sit down, I can cook the rest. Please, don't stress yourself out so much!"

"Do you even know how to cook, Theo?" she asks me, giving me a cockeyed grin.

I say nothing, and Jenna laughs. "That's what I thought. The Venturing Program decided to pick you two, but it taught you nothing. You need to know how to cook, and lesson one starts now!"

"But-" I try to protest, but Jenna takes my paw and drags me over to the stove.

"You want to survive on this planet, you've got to learn how to cook on this planet. Kapische?"

"Yeah, I got it," I say. "I  _am_ able to burn toast and water, does that not count or something?"

"Okay, silly," Jenna says,  _boop_ ing the end of my nose. "You know that burning water is a  _bad_  thing to do, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I do. That was kinda supposed to be the joke."

"Sorry," Jenna says, wiping her eyes with the back of one paw. "That one just went right over top of my head. I'm tired, I guess, normally I would get it."

"Don't worry about it, Jenna. You were saying?"

"What I was saying was that your cooking skills are absolutely awful, you know."

"Oh, you don't need to tell me, I already know."

"Well, that's why you're standing here with me, then, so that way you don't burn any more pots of water. I don't like burnt food."

 _That_ shuts me up.

"So do I win?" Jenna asks.

"Yeah, you do," I say. "You win."

"Lesson number one, Theo," she says, turning to the stove and relighting the burners, then turning back to me.

"What's that?"

"The vixen always wins."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You'd better," she says, stirring the hash she's made so that it reheats. "Now, I was going to let you eat this, but I think that it's better if I teach and you cook your own. No burnt toast for breakfast. Is that why you're so skinny?"

"Skinny?" I say, sticking my tongue out at her. "I'll have you know that I'm the strongest fox ever!"

"Terran foxes must be real weaklings," she says, prodding my arm, "if those 'guns' of yours are the biggest ever.

"Can we get back to cooking?"

"Oh, we are cooking," Jenna says, her tail wrapping around my leg, and I gulp. "We're cooking up a mess, aren't we?"

"Um… yeah, yeah we are," I stutter. "And you're cooking buns, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," she says. "I don't know how many yet, we'll have to see in a few months."

"Do you know when you're due?" I ask her, completely disregarding the stove.

"Not for another six and a half months or so, I think. Are you excited?"

"Nervous is more like it, and whatever those things are that are floating up in the sky; not knowing exactly what they are, it's not helping my nerves. Being with you, though, Jenna? Then I forget everything."

"You're an awful sap, you know that, right, Theo?"

"Am I an awfully romantic fox whose hormones are waaay out of whack? Why yes, yes I am."

"You're lucky that I love that," Jenna says. "Now can we please get back to cooking?"

"Yes, chef!" I say, grinning crazily. "So what're cooking? And no, I don't mean buns."

"Well, I was thinking that we could make ourselves some hash. Do you like that?"

"Again, I'm going to sound completely inept here, but what's hash?"

"Well, if you don't know, that's what I'm going to have to teach you. What's your favorite kind of meat? I think we have ham and sausage, we might even have a little bit of bacon if you want, but I wouldn't eat that in hash."

"How about some of both? Ham and sausage? I'm hungry, and really, anything sounds good, I'm not really a picky eater."

"I figured, considering you said that you'll eat burnt toast."

"Aw, come on…."

"You were the one who said it, now, as your mate, it's my job to keep on bringing it up."

"I'm not even gonna argue with that, because I know that I'm never going to win. See, I  _can_  learn things."

"That puts you above most of the men on this planet, hun, mammal or human. Now, you said ham and sausage, right?"

"Right."

"Okay then. We're going to need a cutting board and a grater for this, I can take care of that. Would you mind cooking up the meat?"

"I would if I could, there's still pans on the stove."

"Don't worry about them," she says, shifting them to the island countertop behind us. "I'll take care of them later. Now," she says, grabbing another clean pan from the cupboards under the island, "here's what you're going to need to do…"

Twenty minutes later, everything's come together- meat fried, potatoes grated and added in, salt, pepper, and plenty of cheese, of course. I may be a predator, but I can't argue with veggies most days, and nor can I argue with cheese.

"Okay, that should be good," Jenna says, flicking the burner off. "Now to sit and eat and enjoy, right?"

"You got it," I say, taking my seat at the table, plate of hash and fork in paw. Jenna takes the seat right across from me at the other end of the table, and we can look out the window as we eat. Those orbs, ships, whatever they are, are still there, still hovering in place.

Choosing to ignore them, I turn back to Jenna, who's happily eating her meal, tail wagging softly behind her as she licks her lips.

"Jenna?" I ask her. "Do you think we'll be good parents?"

"You know we will be, Theo. Like I said, I said yes to you for a reason, and that was because I knew you were a good person."

 _A good person._ That's probably the best compliment that anyone's ever paid me, and I make sure to tell Jenna that.

"I'm glad you believe in me, Jenna."

"You're welcome, Theo," she says, smiling and continuing to eat at the same time. "Really deep question for you, hun, but why do you think that you doubt yourself so much? It's not good for you."

"See, that's the sad thing, Jenna," I say. "I know that, and it drives me nuts, and then the cycle just goes around. That, and always being the odd one out at training helped nothing."

"Oh?" she asks, stretching out a paw across the table for me to take ahold of, and I do. "Tell me what happened."

"I was the last person to finish everything in Venturing school, and no, that's not an exaggeration. I was enrolled for years, and every single activity, whether it was a group project or even just getting picked for teams in PE, I was last, and the teachers made sure to rub that in my face. I could see it in their eyes that I wasn't wanted there, but I wasn't going to give in, I wanted to get away and escape, and the only way out was through."

"Ouch," Jenna says, whistling. "That must've fucked you up bad."

"Yeah, it did," I say, trying to hide my surprise at her words. "Yeah, it did, and always being the odd one out, I found more friends in the books that I could get my paws on than in real life."

"And let me guess, everyone thought you were the school goody-two-shoes…."

"Yeah, and it didn't help that the principal (who pretty much everyone in that school loved) said that he would resign if I ever got in trouble, and say it was all my fault for being a bad fox. Enough about me, though, what about you?"

"Well, let's see... I'm a fox, so yeah, that kinda makes things hard, especially here on Earth; my fur doesn't help anything either…"

"But it's so beautiful…" I say. "Why would anyone dislike you just for your fur color?"

"That would be mostly because they always thought that I was a wolf who kept her fur short, and it was a 'shock to the system,' as most of them would say, that I was a fox.

"Okay, that's probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"You're not kidding," she says. "I tried to fit in and find a place, but to no avail. Every time that I tried to find myself someone to be around, they wouldn't return my sentiment."

"That must've driven you crazy," I say. "Lemme guess, you were always lonely, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was. That's another reason why Mama decided to homeschool Isaac and I, because she knew that we were always lonely, but that everyone rejected us if we went out. It was a lose-lose situation, to say the least."

"So what made you change your mind?" I ask. "If it was so horrible to be out in public, then why come out?"

"Simple," she says. "We heard that there were more of us- you and Alaina."

"That's fair," I say. "Thank you so much for breakfast, Jenna."

"You're welcome, hon," she says. "If you're still hungry, there should be plenty of hash left on the stove, I hope it's still warm enough for you."

"Thanks, Jenna, I would like a little more," I say, getting up and going to get another serving, but deciding to surprise Jenna instead by giving her a lick between the ears.

"What the?" she asks, and I do it again. "Oh, you silly fox, you're such a sap," she says. "Are you trying to eat me?"

"Only if you want me to," I say, nibbling on the corner of her ear. "Mm, fox ear. Tasty."

"Yeah, I'm sure," she says, laughing. "Are you going to eat more of that hash, or should I put it away?"

"No, not my hash!" I yelp. "No, not that, don't take that away, anything but that!"

"Well, then you'd better hurry up and eat it before I get there!" Jenna says, leaping up out of her seat. "

"Oh, no you don't!" she says, giggling wildly and racing me to the stove. Sadly for this fox, I lose the race, so Jenna gets the rest of the hash for herself.

"Sad fox is sad," I mumble, hoping that Jenna'll hear me and decide to share.

"Just how did you manage to pick that expression up?" she asks. "I thought that was just an Earth expression."

"It is, I've had a lot of free time over the course of the course of the last several months. Just what did you think I was doing in the library besides shelving books?"

"I don't know, I kinda thought that that was all you did."

"No, that's far from it. You know how curious I am, right?"

"I'd have to be blind not to," she says.

"Okay, then. Yeah, I was curious, and I wanted to learn more about this planet that I was on, seeing as, as I've grumbled, my Human Culture classes tought me nothing. So anyways, there was an Intergalactic Web connection there in the library, and since I was pretty much the only one in there ever, the computers were free for me to use, I figured what the heck, might as well learn as much as I could, see if I could learn some basic human social skills while I was at it, you know?"

"I do. So let me guess, you spent a lot of time in chat rooms."

"Gee, Jenna, how'd you guess?"

"Because I did the exact same thing once I was old enough to figure out that I was different than everyone else. I sat for hours and hours at a time on my mom's old clunker of a laptop, trying to dig up information about me, about where I could have come from, about the war, too."

"And what did you dig up?" I ask her, feeling dread settle in my stomach because I think I already know the answer."

"Well, I learned that there was a war going on on Terra, and that that was probably how my brother and I ended up here on Earth: we were sent out so that the Terran people would survive, but I think that that's kinda foolish. I mean, sure, you've got to protect your people, but I don't consider myself a Terran. Sure, I may have been born there, but I've never had any real ties to that planet."

"Well, you've certainly got a better live here on Earth than you ever could've had on Terra, it's a mess. Imagine the poorest city in the world, so Beijing, maybe, and then spread that out over the surface of an entire planet. Terra is pretty much an exact copy of Earth, down to even the seasons and climate, but the resources are all gone, we've burnt away most of our ozone layer, not just two holes in it at the poles, yeah, it's not good."

"Well, then it's a good thing you'll never have to go back to it, then, right?"

"Right. I've got a question for you, by the way."

"Fire away," she says.

"Okay, so do you think that those dots are all around the planet, or do you think that they're just over this spot? I have no idea and I want to know what you think about all of this, Jenna," I ask. "So, please, your thoughts?"

"Well, I have no idea, Theo," she says, her voice shaking slightly, and she puts a worried paw on my shoulder. "Why don't we clean up this mess, and then we can turn on the TV and see what the newscasters are saying, hmm? Does that sound good?"

"You're the vixen here, so that puts you in charge," I say. "What does it matter what I say?"

"It matters everything to me, you know."

"That's probably the kindest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"You're welcome," she says. "But to answer your question, yeah, that's fine with me."

"Alrighty then."

With that, we set to cleaning up our mess, packing up the extra hash (because nobody's mind is on food anymore) and making sure it's all packed up neatly in the fridge, because I don't want it to come tumbling down on top of me. I may be five nine, but a fridge is still a good two feet taller than me, and containers hurt when they konk a certain fox on the top of the head. Yeah, not fun.

Once all of our mess is cleaned up (and we've spent a few minutes kissing one another), we turn on the TV. The one that Mama and Papa has is  _old-_ it has just a plain flat screen instead of the 3D augmented reality helmets that most of the TVs- no, all of the TVs nowadays come with.

Ah, well, that's no big deal. People these days spend too much time absorbed by technology, as I've heard Mama grumble to Papa, and besides, I don't need any more distractions than I have.

Now to watch the news.

I push the button to turn the TV on, and it slowly flickers to life. For a second there, I worry that it won't come all the way on, but it does, thankfully.

Whoever was watching it last left it on some random station that's showing classic movies that even Terrans know of, like  _Meowana_. As much as Meowana's story is a great one, and the movie is wonderful, I have more pressing things to deal with. I leave that behind and channel surf until I come across a news broadcast that's talking about what I need to know.

"And I'm Christopher Brilmar from Washington, DC," the reporter begins, and I realize that I've probably picked up this story in the middle. Oh, well, a little bit of info about what's going on up in the sky there is better than no infor whatsoever.

"Late last night," the reporter continues, holding his mic in one hand while nervously fiddling with the end of his tie with the other, "several bright lights appeared in the sky all around Earth. At first, astrologers believed that they were merely a set of shooting stars. However, at about eight PM Eastern Standard time, these lights did not merely skim over the horizon and vanish into the distance like most shooting stars would. Instead, they remained in a static orbit over the planet. Astrologers then came to the conclusion that they were some sort of extraterrestrial object, and preliminary observations from NASA have supported these findings.

"However," the reporter continues, "NASA is still in the process of examining these objects, and more information is still to come. The first report should be available tomorrow afternoon, according to NASA's director, James Marlboro."

As soon as he says that name, James Marlboro, I shut the TV off, and Jenna looks at me as if I'm crazy. Of course, I probably am, but that's a matter for another day.

"What the heck was that about, Theo?" she asks, giving me a  _what the flock is up with you, mammal?_  look.

"I recognize that name, Jenna," I say, feeling my fur bristle even at the thought of him.

"Who is he?" she asks.

"The same guy who beat me up, the person who was running that clothing store, you name the wacky goings-on, he's probably behind it in some way, shape, or form, and don't ask me how he ended up as the director of NASA less than two weeks after he tried to kill us. That thing, I don't think that he's human, he's either really good at what he's doing, or we're really just awful at seeing the obvious."

Shaking her head, Jenna sighs and then turns to me. "I don't know if it's one or the other, Theo."

"What do you mean by that, Jenna?"

"What I'm trying to say, Theo, is that, chances are, the answer that we're after is neither one nor the other, it's both. What I'm trying to say is that, chances are, we're not seeing all of the truth, and that's because it's being kept from us by that guy. What's his problem, anyways, and what the heck is he, because like I just said, there's no flocking way that he's human."

"I don't know what his problem is, Jenna, other than he seriously seems to hate anybody from Terra, even though we're less of animals than he is."

"Can you think of any race from out there in the stars that hates Terrans and would do anything to see them all dead and gone for good, never to be seen or heard of again?"

"Several, actually," I say, putting a paw to my forehead in thought. "But no, I can't really think of any one group in particular who would want me gone. Do you?"

"Theo, you're the one who lived out there on Terra and saw firsthand what was going on, so if you've got nothing, what makes you think that I would know any more about any of this scat than you would?"

"Fair point," I say, sighing. "So what do you want to do now?"

"Quite honestly, I'd like to go back to school, and yeah, I know," she says, seeing my look of incredulity, "you think that I've finally lost it, but news flash, I don't care. Maybe I have, but well, you're in this boat with me, now you're going to have to come along with me for the journey. Are you feeling up for it?"

"We'll have to see, because I really don't know. What I  _do_  know is that I really just want to tell the Worlds to go flock themselves."

"You know, you really need to learn some normal curse words," Jenna laughs.

"Excuse me? Normal?" I ask, laughing. "Since when was I ever normal, and why does it matter that I use animal curse words? Does it look like I'm a human?"

"Fair point, Theo, fair point."

"So what are we gonna do now, huh? I think we're finally going to need to act."

At that, Jenna sighs. "And that's what I'm afraid of."

"What? What are you afraid of, Jenna?" I ask, confused. "I thought that I was supposed to be the scaredy-fox here."

"Ha ha, very funny, foxy," she laughs, sticking out her tongue at me, but then her tone turns serious. "Are you looking forward to going back to school, Theo?"

"Honestly," I sigh, "I really don't know, Jenna. I'm afraid, and I don't know what to expect, and, well… I'm a complete wreck, you know?"

"I do," she says, smiling at me. "Why don't we take a shower together, hmm? That'll help take your mind off of what's going on in the world around us, right?"

"I hope so," I say, returning her grin. "Race you?"

"You have yourself a deal. Whoever gets there first has to wear their clothes in the shower!"

"Aw, that's not even fair…"

"Hey, you were the one who agreed to it, so no backing out…"

"Ugh, how do I even get myself into these kinds of situations?"

"Great question, and you should know the answer already, silly, now come on before I need to ask again."

"Yes, ma'am!" I say, giving her a mock salute and heading for the bathroom.

Nothing naughty happens this time, but a lot of kissing under the water does, and well, I think I still need more practice, staying in the shower long enough to drain all the hot water supply still isn't long enough, in my opinion.

In other news, Jenna's starting to show, and I wonder what everyone's going to think of us when we go back to school.

Well, of course, that all relies on the school reopening any time soon, but I don't know if that's going to happen.

Of course, if it doesn't, no big loss, right?

It means more time for me to spend at home, and I can't argue with that one bit.

The only thing that I  _can_  argue about is what we're going to name the kits, and that's actually an 'argument' that I don't mind having.

"Three boy's names and three girl's names, just to be safe," Jenna says ten minutes later as we're both standing in front of the bathroom mirror, smiling. "How's that sound?"

"You know, I'm not so sure why you're even asking, Jenna. I know that you're going to be the one to take charge here anyways, so why ask me? I'm not used to being included in this sort of thing…"

As soon as I'm done saying that, I feel a sharp sting on my cheek, and I wince, realizing that Jenna just slapped me.

"What the flock was that for?" I sputter, thankfully managing to keep my temper in check. "What did I do?"

"Lesson number one," Jenna says, teeth bared. "Quit being such a flocking ass to yourself, got it? I love you, Theo, but I can't flocking stand your ability to turn every positive into a wrong, okay? Knock it off!"

"Yes, dear," I say, trying to a, not get slapped again, and b, cheer her up.

"Don't you 'yes, dear' me, you screwball," she says, the fire in her eyes still as bright. "Let me ask you a question, and it's as easy of a question or as hard of a question as you make it. Here goes- what part of your mind makes it so that any negative is what you focus on?"

"Oh,  _that_  kind of question," I say, trying to figure out an answer and failing miserably. "I have no idea…"

"Let me guess," she says, putting a paw to her chin in thought. "Young fox loses everything and wants to find stability in his life, only to find that there's none to be had. When the Venturing program shows up, it offers escape, so he jumps right aboard.

"During training, he can't seem to do anything right, so he comes to expect that he's always going to be stepped on by life, and his being a fox helps nothing. He then heads off to Earth, only to have his worst fears about himself come true, that he doesn't fit in and is always behind. Instead of trying to escape, fox finds himself spinning in depressive circles, where he keeps blaming himself for everything that goes wrong in his life, even if he has no control over that."

"Oh, okay," I say, shocked at how well she's figured me out. "How'd you know?"

"Because I was in the same boat, Theo, okay? I've never fit in either, and expecting that we're going to is just going to make us angry and frustrated, and I think that there's part of your problem, eh?"

"You're probably right," I say. "So how'd you end up like you are? I mean, not so self-loathing?"

"My brother slapped it out of me," she says, straight-faced."

"You've got to be joking," I say, unable to believe her."

"Does it look like I'm joking?" she asks. "No, it doesn't, does it? You want to know why? Because I'm not," she says, hackles raised and ears flicked straight back in frustration.

"Let's try something," she continues, the lights in her eyes dimming slightly. "What do you stand for, Theo, and please, be honest, both with me, and yourself."

"Alright, Ms. Counselor, let's see. What do I stand for? What do I believe in? I believe that I need to get out of my head more often, that I'm a bit of a nervous wreck most days, and that, well, I need some help."

"That's what I'm here for, silly," she says, the fire in her eyes now just a little flame. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled, but seriously, mammal, let it go!"

"You know," I say as we leave the bathroom and head downstairs, "you're not the first person to to tell me that…"

"No, but I  _am_  the first person to try and make you believe it, aren't I?" she says, booping the end of her nose with her middle finger.

I sigh and smile. "Yeah, you are, and unfortunately for this fox," I say, putting on a pretend pout, "it's working."

"Oh, darn," Jenna laughs. "Come on, relax a little, and just a random question."

"What's that?" I ask, and then I see Jenna on one knee at the bottom of the stairs, and she's holding out a box for me.

_Oh, okay. Oh. Okay then._

"Is that what I think it is, and how'd you manage that one?"

"Yes, it is, and I'm not telling. We may be young, but that just means that we're going to have more time to grow old together. Theo…"

"Yes?" I ask, feeling my palms start to sweat.

"Will you marry me?"

"Uh…"

"Yes or no?"

"Yes, of course yes!" I say, wondering how my world could be this crazy. I start off the morning feeling stressed and depressed, and by lunchtime (which it almost is, I can feel my stomach start to gnaw at me) I would be saying yes to my girlfriend.

"Well then take the box, silly," Jenna says, smiling. "We may drive each other crazy, Theo, but that's life for you, right?"

"Right," I say, giving her a peck on the cheek and sliding the ring out of the box. "Um… which finger does this go on again?"

"This one," she says, taking the ring and sliding it on my second finger. "Now to wear mine," she says, taking a box out of her other pocket and sliding on the ring that's inside.

"Do you like it, Theo?" she asks. "I had it made special for you, you know."

"T-Thank you, Jenna," I stammer, feeling my whole face light up in a blush. "You have one for yourself, right?"

"Yep, I did. Do you like the color?"

_It's silver, like Jenna's fur. Let me guess, hers is going to be copper like mine?_

"Yes, I do, Jenna. Do our parents know about this?"

"Considering that they a) already know about us and b), paid for the rings, uh, yeah, I think they know."

"Can I tackle-hug you know, or would you rather do that later?" I ask, an Isaac-worthy grin on my muzzle.

"Now's fine," she says, and I wrap my arms as far around her as I can.

 _I'm such a lucky fox,_  I think.  _I have a mate and soon a family, I don't need to go back and fight, I'm safe, I'm good._

_Now just to get rid of the self-doubt._

_Starting now._

The next week flies by, and before any of us can really fathom what's happened, it's time to go back to school. We're all standing out at the stop, feeling the bite of the wind that's whipping cold shards of snow and ice past our faces and hoping that the bus is going to come sooner rather than later, because none of us need to deal with frostbite, especially those of us whose winter coats haven't come in all the way, a group that includes me, myself, and I.

Thankfully for all of us, though, the bus comes not much later, its air brakes wailing like a drowning cat as it screeches to a sudden, jerking halt in front of my driveway, and we all pile on.

"Nice to see you back, Mister Aspen," the bus driver says, smiling warmly at me as I take my seat in the empty front row.

Wait a second, where'd everyone else go off to?

"It's nice to see you're still alive, Mister Aspen," the bus driver says, giving me a warm and apparently heartfelt smile.

"I'm just as surprised as you are, ma'am," I say, happy that a) there's a new driver, and b), she likes me.

"We were all rooting for you, Theo," she says. "I heard what happened."

"Yeah, Mister Marlboro beat the shit-stuffing out of me, and pardon my language."

"Who?" the bus driver asks, her forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"Mister Marlboro, the principal," I say, feeling a flash of frustration. "He would've been the principal up until about three months ago….."

"Never heard of 'im," she says, "and I've been driving this bus for ten years. I think I would know who the principal- my boss- is."

"But-," I try to protest. She couldn't have been driving this bus and run for ten years, I've only been at this school for three months and I've never seen her before in my life, and Mister Marlboro, so he told me, had been the principal for over two decades…

"But nothing, I know what I know."

"Yes, Ma'am," I say, getting up out of my seat to scooch to the back of the bus and join the rest of my friends (and my fiancee, oh boy!).

"Did you guys hear my conversation up there?" I whisper, hoping they have.

"Yeah, we did," Tony whispers to me, his whiskers slicked with sweat.

"Why so nervous, Tony?" Isaac asks, head cocked and ears perked.

"Well, here's the thing, and maybe you won't believe me, maybe you will, but I'm a sci-fi buff, just want to say that. So anyways, I've seen this sort of things in books and sci-fi movies, but it doesn't make any sense. This isn't a book and it's not a movie, this is our reality, but it sure seems like one. Have any of you ever watched the Men in Black movie series?"

"Can't say that I have," Isaac says. "Why'dja ask?"

"Here's the thing," Tony says, putting a paw to the bridge of his muzzle in exasperation. "In those movies, the main characters were governmental operatives- spies, for lack of a better term, who could erase people's memory with a little tool that they called a 'blinky thingy.'

"So do you think that that's what happened?" I ask, trying in vain to wrap my mind around all of this mess. "Like he blanked out everyone's memory of him and what happened?"

"I'm going to sound crazy, but-," Tony begins, but then Jenna cuts him off.

"You already  _are_  crazy, Tony, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it, but don't worry, so am I."

"Me too!" everyone else chimes in.

"But seriously, everyone," Tony says, "I think that's kinda what's going on here. I mean, I was there when the creepo just up and vanished right into thin air without a, so I wouldn't put it past him to have tech that could blank everyone's memories of him."

"Fair point, Tony," I say, sighing. "So what now?"

"Um, we get off of this stinking bus," he says, and I realize that we've come to a stop at the school. We don't live that far from the school, only twenty-five minutes or so, which isn't so bad when you live out in the country like we do. Quite honestly, it's a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of where I moved from, so you won't hear me complain."

"Where exactly  _did_  you move from, anyways?" Jenna asks as we get off the bus, the temperature change back into the cold winter air making all of us shiver.

"About a twenty hour long drive west of here," he says. "Just outside of a city called Rhinelander, I don't think anybody's ever going to have heard of it."

"Can't say that I have. Where even is Wisconsin, anyway, and what state are we in?"

"You mean to tell me that you really don't know where we live?"

"Um…," I stammer. "No, I really can't."

"As soon as you get the chance to, Theo, learn Earth geography. We live in the city of Barre, in Vermont. Canada (which is a whole other country, by the way) is about 10 minutes outside of Montpelier, the capital of the state."

"Long drive," I say, whistling. "What made your family come so far?"

"Oh, it wasn't my family," Tony says. "I just ran and grabbed a ride on the train that was going through, and this is where I ended up."

"Sounds wonderful. Off to first period it is then?" I ask.

"Yeah, sounds about right to me," he says, and so we do, making first period just in time for the bell to ring.

"Good morning, everyone," the teacher, who I don't recognize (again…) says. "Welcome back, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it really has been, and remind me, who are you and what class is this?"

"This is your English class, Mister Aspen, and I'm Mrs. Jones, your English teacher. Don't you remember me?"

"Um, no, actually, I don't," I say. "Just how long have you worked here, anyways?"

"Five years," she says, looking at me like I have two heads, and you know what? Once this class is over, I'm going to go to the bathroom and get a good look at myself in the mirror, because I'm starting to wonder about that myself.

In the bathroom, I have to clean the mirrors off before I can even see anything in it. Judging from the plywood over the windows, this part of the school got quite messed up. I wonder if they just forgot to clean off the mirrors and get the smoke, ash, and all of the other junk and grime off, or maybe they just don't care.

.

I don't know what's going on with this school, because every teacher that I've run into is either completely different (as in a whole other person that I've never met before, like my English teacher) or completely oblivious to the fact that absolutely nothing is right with this school. I mean, I've only been around this building for a few months, but I would know all of my teachers, and these people haven't even been here for five days, let alone five years.

Once I manage to get the mirrors cleaned off, which leaves the sleeve of my shirt soot-stained, I get a good look at myself: blue-green eyes with little flecks of gold near the center. Those are normal. Reddish-orange fur that's bordering on the edge of what could be called rusty amber- that's normal. Bags under my eyes, yep, those are there too and definitely normal.

Extra head? Yeah, nope, definitely not there.

As I head out of the bathroom and head back to class, an idea pops to mind. It's off to Mrs. Neve's classroom then. I'm not going back to first period until I figure out just what the flock is going on here.

As I make my way to Mrs. Neve's, I hear several voices coming from inside the room. I know that she's not going to care if I intrude, so I open the door and step in to find all three inside, worriedly debating with one another, only to stop when I come in.

"Oh, hey Theo," Isaac says, giving me a small wave as I enter the room. "Is it just me, or has everyone in this building gone bonkers, huh?"

"So it's not just me, then?" I ask. "I know that the bus driver was a little loopy, but I don't know who else is nuts. My teacher was, that's why I'm skipping out and hiding here."

"Did you notice that none of us were in there with you?" Jenna asks.

"Uh, no, actually," I didn't," I say, feeling sheepish. "I was too busy wondering what the heck was up with my teacher to think about it."

"Don't worry about it," Mrs. Neve says. "I can understand that. Everyone here is just so… odd and off-putting, and that's not even close to describing these people. I don't get it, it's like they've all been brainwashed into thinking that they've been teaching here for their entire careers, which, I can promise you, they haven't been, because I've never met anyone in this building before this morning, and yet they all swear that they've known me for as long as I've been teaching here, and that was when these two were just kits nearly sixteen years ago. I've got nothing, everyone, so unless any of you brilliant young mammals can think of something, I'm lost. I don't get it."

"Who says we're ever going to get it?" I grumble, letting a small growl slip my lips. "You want to know what I think is going on?"

"What?" Mrs. Neve asks, apparently intrigued.

"When Mister Marlboro snapped his fingers, that was when everything went weird, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Jenna says, her tail flicking nervously behind her, along with everyone else's, too, my own included. "Do you think that he's the one behind all of this? Like, maybe he has the power to warp reality? I mean, it sounds nearly impossible, no, just plain flat out impossible, but hell, this world just keeps proving me wrong day after day after day…"

"It is what it is, though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is, Isaac," his sister grumbles. "Now come on, let's get our tails to class before anyone, teacher or otherwise, decides to come looking for us.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good," I say. "I'm not in the mood to get in trouble  _again._ "

"I can't blame you, Theo," Alaina says, and we all dash back to class, where the teacher is standing in front of the empty classroom, going about the lesson as if we were there, and she doesn't even flinch in surprise or even seem to recognize that we've come in when we do. Instead, she just keeps writing on the board, and I have no idea why. We were reading  _The Great Gatsby_ , or whatever that book was called, so I have no idea why this woman is now robotically writing notes about some book called  _Fahrenheit 451_  on the board.

Thankfully, though, her focus- or whatever the flocking hell it is- on the board lets us talk amongst ourselves, and we don't even have to whisper, the teacher doesn't even notice.

"Whatever happened to Mrs. Macgutz?" Jenna asks. "This is just crazy!"

"It's almost as if she's a robot," Isaac says, nodding in agreement. "Do you think that she's another one of them?"

"She could be, for all any of us know, man," I say, hoping that she won't magically discover a sense of hearing. "What do you say to us just getting up and leaving? Do you think we'll be missed?"

"Yes to the first and no to the second," Tony says, twisting his whiskers nervously between two fingers.

"So then what are we waiting for, eh?" I say, getting up out of my seat, and yep, sure enough, the teacher doesn't notice anything. Everyone else follows after me, and we head back to Mrs. Neve's classroom, where she's sitting alone at her desk, typing away at her computer, wiping away the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

She's so into her work, whatever it is that she's doing, that she doesn't notice that any of us have come into the room until I sit right in the seat that's right in front of her desk, and then she looks up, blinking in surprise when she sees us.

"What are you guys doing back here?" she says, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea, Mama," Jenna says, hopping up on top of the desk next to me. "Everyone that we've run into is all robotic, like they've been possessed. You know how we left English right in the middle of a lesson?"

"Well, no, I didn't know that it was right in the middle of a lesson, but go ahead," Mrs. Neve says, now more fully awake.

"Yeah, well, anyways, as I was saying," Jenna says, rubbing the sleep out of her own eyes, "we got back to class to find our teacher, who, like everyone else, we've never seen before, teaching to thin air, almost as if she were a robot."

"What do you mean, 'she was teaching to thin air," Mrs. Neve asks, her face a mask of confusion. "That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever."

"But it's exactly what was going on, Mama," Jenna says, her legs swinging frustratedly over the edge of the desk. "She was standing there in the front of the classroom with a piece of chalk in her hand, writing away on the board and talking, teaching a lesson on a book we'd never read, and that was how we found her. It was like she had a program to run and that was what she did, regardless of whether or not there were actually students there to learn the lesson that she was teaching."

"That's probably the weirdest thing that I've ever heard in my life, honestly," Mrs. Neve says, her brows creasing in confusion. "And you're sure that she was a person? I mean, normally that would be one heck of a weird question to ask, but after all of the scat that we've all seen and been through together, I think that's probably a fair one to ask."

"You have a point, Mama," Jenna says, sighing in frustration. "No, I have no idea whether or not this woman was actually human or not, but I'm willing to bet quite a bit that the answer to that question is a big, fat, resounding  **NO**!"

"I don't think that she was either, Jenna," Tony says, the weariness evident on his face, evident on everyone's faces, and although I can't see mine right at the moment, I know what it looked like just ten minutes ago: worn, overtired, and frustrated, and it can't have changed for the better since then.

"So then what was she, exactly?" Jenna asks, equal parts frustrated and flustered.

"You're asking the wrong mammal, sweetheart," I say, sighing and letting my ears droop in a mix of frustration and sadness. "I got nothin'."

"The world is lost, then," Jenna says, giving me a rueful smile. "So should we just try to survive the rest of the day alive and unscathed?"

"Sounds like a decent plan to me, hun," I say, and Mrs. Neve looks at us, smiling sadly.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Neve?" I ask her, concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine, Theo," Mrs. Neve says, wiping her eyes clear again. "And didn't I ask you to call me Bianca?"

"Yeah, you did," I say. "Sorry, I'm tired and stressed and haven't been thinking about it."

"Eh, don't worry, it's not the end of the world, Theo," Mrs. Neve- Bianca- says, smiling.

"If that was supposed to be a joke, Bianca," I say, groaning, "it was flocking awful."

"I know," she says. "It was supposed to be, and yeah, probably in poor taste."

"No big deal," I say. "But you're not wrong, it's not the end of the world, although it wouldn't surprise me to find out that the end of the world  _is_  coming soon."

"Geez, all doom and gloom now, are we, Theo?"

"No, no, not at all," I say, grimacing. "Why would I be like that?"

"Great question, Theo," she says. "I don't know, do you?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm supposed to have a sense of humor? What? Mind. Blown!" I say, miming my head exploding. "Kablooie!"

"Eew, fox brains everywhere!" Jenna giggles. "Hey, Mom, do you know where I can find a mop or something like that? Theo's brain blew up and there's a mess everywhere…"

"If you can find a mop that's still good in this building, daughter dear," Mrs. Neve- Bianca, keep it straight- says, "I'd be awfully surprised. Go ahead and look, but don't slip in the mess!"

"Alright, Mama, I won't," she says, grinning like a schoolkit. I don't know if there's a human equivalent to that, but if there's not, well, then, I'm not worried about it.

You want to know why not? Here's why: I've got worse things to deal with than whether or not I make sense to anyone, because you know what? I'm my own person, and yeah, I'm going to need to find a place for myself  _somewhere_  in society, but do I need to just 'fit in?' No, no I don't.

You know what I  _do_  need to do, though? Make sense of whatever the hell is going in with this world.

I try to do that over the course of the next several classes, where all of the teachers are the same as in first period. They all swear that they've known us for forever, ever since we were kits in elementary school, which, for countless reasons, is just plain impossible; and yep, they all act like robots, just going on teaching at the board even when we slip out; all of them are teaching things we haven't learned, and nobody seems to get it. All of the other students that I've run into seem to think that everything's normal, and I'm starting to wonder if all of us- me, Jenna, Alaina, and Isaac- if we've all collectively lost it.

That's the topic of conversation as we make our way down to the cafeteria, the time until lunch having flown right by.

"So it's just us then," Isaac says as we're standing in line to get lunch. "We're the only ones who seem to think that any of this is odd."

"I guess so," I say, scratching my head in confusion. "I'm not the only one who gets it, thankfully. Are all of you still together on what's causing this?"

"I don't know," Alaina says. "But we might want to move forward in line."

"Oh," I say, noticing that everyone's moved forward several feet, leaving us behind and everyone behind us angrily tapping their feet, wondering when we'll notice the gap.

By the time we manage to get back to talking, we're out of the lunch line, and we're all going to sit down when I notice an older man wearing a suit and tie, confusedly looking around the cafeteria.

"Who's that?" I ask, pointing at said man.

"I have no idea," Alaina says, caution and fear etching the edges of her voice. "But let me guess, Theo, you want to go find out, right?"

"Gee, how'd you know?" I ask, trying to be as sarcastic as it's possible for me to be (in other words, not very, I'm still learning how sarcasm works in the first place).

"Because we're literally known each other almost our entire lives," Alaina says, griping. "Alright, he looks safe, and just about as confused as we are, so let's go find out what's up with 'im."

We make our way over to the man, who is still looking around nervously.

"Hello?" Isaac asks, tapping him on the shoulder. "Hello?"

"Huh?" the man asks, blinking, and then he gets a look at us, and a look of pure and abject terror flashes across his long, rather pale face. "What? Huh? Why are there Terrans in the building! Help!" he begins to shout, his panic growing, and I frantically try to get him to calm down, my heart racing thousands of lightyears a minute. No trouble for me, no, please, not again!

"Please! Please calm down!" I beg him, hoping he'll listen, hoping that I won't get in any more trouble.

"What are Terrans doing here on Earth? I heard about the invasion, is that why you're here?"

"I hate having to explain this," Alaina grumbles, putting a paw to her snout in frustration. "Theo, why don't you try and explain what we're doing here on Earth, and do it  _calmly_ , please."

"Alright, Alaina," I tell her, then turn to the principal, putting my paws in the pockets of my jeans so that I can't wave them everywhere.

"Sir," I begin, taking a deep breath to steel my nerves, "we're not here as invaders, I promise. We're on exchange, we have nothing to do with the invasion, and believe you me, sir, we're just about as confused as you are."

"So I'm not the only one?" he asks. "I've been doing my rounds, I'm the superintendent, you see, and I wanted to make sure that everyone was okay before school today, and…," he says, trailing off.

"Let me guess," Jenna says, "you found new teachers everywhere that you didn't know and had never seen before in your life, but they all swore to you that they had worked for the district for years and they all knew you."

"How'd you know?" the man, apparently the superintendent, says. "I thought I was the only one."

"No, you're not the only one. There's us five mammals here, and then my Algebra teacher, one Mrs. Bianca Neve," I say. So you have no idea what's going on here either?"

"Not a single one, sir," I sigh. "If I had any answers, sir, I wouldn't be asking any questions."

"That's what I thought," the superintendent, who has yet to introduce himself, says. "So who are all of you?"

"I'm Theo Aspen, and as for animal? I'm a red fox" I say, sticking out a paw for him to shake, and he does. "Nice to meet you, Mister- ?"

"Blanchard," he says. "Mister Paul Blanchard, and it's nice to meet you as well, Theo."

"I'm Alaina Lupa," Alaina says, giving the principal a quick salute. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"You don't have to salute me, Alaina," Mister Blanchard says, smiling and returning her salute. "And you are?"

"Canis lupus- gray wolf," Alaina says, smiling. "It's nice to meet someone who's not actively trying to kill us, you know."

"I know the feeling," he says. "I served my time in the Army- twelve years, three full tours of duty, and believe me, those days when we could kick back a little were the best of all of them. Now," he says, turning to Isaac and Jenna. "Fox and wolf? Did I get that right? Your fur's a bit different, but the shapes are still the same."

"You got it," Jenna says, giving him her best smile, making sure to not seem threatening. "I'm the fox, he's the wolf, and yes, he's my brother, I know it seem weird. And this screwball," she says, pointing to me, "is my fiancee."

"Congrats," he says, shaking his head like he's trying to wrap his mind around everything in a literal sense. "So do any of you have any idea what the fricking hell is going on here?"

"Not really," I say. "So what-" I begin, but I stop when my eyes catch sight of the red and blue flashing bar lights of police cruisers. "What the hell? Who called the cops?"

"Not me," I say. "I've had enough of cops for a lifetime, so no, definitely  _not_  me."

"And it wasn't me," Mister Blanchard says. "I don't have any service here, anyways."

Before we can think about it anymore or talk about it amongst ourselves, the officers who were driving the cruisers pile out and come barging in through the school's cafeteria doors. Never mind that the outside doors that open to the hallway were locked not ten seconds earlier, no, a second's worth of bullets from their automatic rifles blows them right open, and the cops come pouring right into the cafeteria, rifles sweeping the room, scanning the room for any threats and then locking in on us.

One of the officers marches right up to me and jabs his rifle right to my chest.

 _Shit,_ I think, my heart pounding and palms sweating like crazy,  _this is how I die, isn't it, not even off fighting like my family would have wanted, no, I die in school._

"What are you doing here,  _fox?!_ " the officer says, pushing the barrel of his gun even farther into my chest, and now I'm fighting not to yelp from the pain that the rough metal end is causing as it digs into my skin, which won't be a winning enterprise for much longer if this is any sort of sign.

"I'm an exchange student, sir," I manage to yip out, tears starting to well in my eyes, making the world seem all misty.

"An exchange student, as if I'd ever believe that," the officer laughs, pressing the muzzle of his gun even farther into my chest. "You really think you're going to trick me, fox?"

"But it's true!" Alaina shouts in protest, and thankfully, thankfully, thankfully, the officer takes the gun's muzzle away from my chest.

"What did you say,  _predator?_ " the officer snarls, now training his gun on her, and I gulp again.  _Not her, no! Please, we didn't do anything, we're innocent mammals, please!_

"Nothing, officer," Alaina says, seeming to shrink into herself as she dips her head in submission, a gesture that I haven't seen in years, which just makes it all the more surprising, and what she does next- put her paws over her neck- shocks me even more. Usually, back on Terra, mammals would only do that if they knew the cause was hopeless, a gesture of 'I surrender, please don't kill me.'

If Alaina's giving in, then the cause is lost, but I'm not going to give in, not here, not now, not ever!

"I'm glad to know that some of you pelts still have some common sense," the officer says, and when he turns his gun on Isaac and then Jenna, both of them do the same, leaving me as the only one who hasn't just plain given in.

"So what should I do with all of you?" he muses. "Of course, the President did authorize the execution of spies and suspected enemy co-conspirators. Maybe I should just end you all now," he says, and as he does, I feel my stomach drop, my face blanching cold, but then, a split second later, it heats back up again as red-hot boiling anger overtakes me, and before my brain can fully process what it, as well as the rest of me is doing, my instincts take over, and I leap on top of the officer, trying to hold him down, hurt him, something, just keep him away from my family. Everything blurs together as the adrenaline kicks in, but then it wears off in a split second as I find myself pinned to the ground, and wearing a- what even is this thing? My mouth can't open, there's a metal cage around it, and now my wrists are chained together? What the hell?

 _I don't understand,_  I think, panicking, my heart starting to race even faster. What did I even do?

Then my mind catches up to itself, and I come to the realization that yep, I'm screwed. I just attacked a human, that's a sure-fire way to go to jail, and I'm going to wager my bets that that's where I'm heading.

The officers start to march me out, but before they can get very far, Alaina leaps after them, fury in her eyes. Before she can leap onto anyone, though, one of the officers tazes her and then cuffs her dazed self.

"Who's next? These two are already going down for quite a while, anyone else want to join them?"

"I will," Tony says, putting out his paws for the officer to cuff, and despite his apparent surprise, the officer cuffs him, too.

"Anyone  _else?_ " one of the other officers, the one who tazed Alaina, asks.

"Me," Isaac says.

"And me," Jenna says, both of them putting their paws out to have the shiny silver bracelets placed around them, all of the assembled cops looking on at the spectacle unfolding before them with the same expression on each face- one of shock, surprise, and the most disgusting part of all, barely suppressed glee.

 _Bastards, each and every flocking one of them are bastards and cowards,_  I think as the original officer leads us into the back of the two police cruisers.

I never thought that I would be the one to get arrested. No, I was always the uptight one out of everyone, the one that flat-out refused to break any rules, and that just makes it all the more surprising that I'm being strapped in in the back of a police cruiser, metal rings of this stupid muzzle digging in and stinging like hell, paws cuffed behind my back.

It's a price that I'm more than willing to pay, though, if it means protecting my family, my friends, my mate.

I would do anything for her, I would do anything to save my new family, I really would, even go to jail.

_That was supposed to be funny._

Ten minutes later, we're being led into the booking room of the local police station, and the dispatcher looks up from the newspaper that he's boredly skimming when he hears the bell on the door jangle to signal our arrival.

"Morning, Paul," the dispatcher says to the officer leading me in. "What'd you catch this time?"

"Two foxes and two wolves," he says, gesturing to the rest of us with the hand that's not holding the cuffs. "They tell me that they're not invaders. I don't know, but what I do know," he says, gesturing to me, "is that this annoying little son of a bitch motherfucker tried to attack me. Now, if you'll excuse me," he says, letting go of my cuffs, "I'm going to go see the medic so I don't bleed out. The fucker got me good. Book 'em and put them in Holding 'til we can set a trial date, alright?"

"Got it," the dispatcher says, getting up from behind his desk and coming to take the muzzle off of my face, thank Karma!"

"This is only off until we're taken care of here, then it's going back on," he says, sixteen words that strike fear right through my heart. "Do you understand that? Do you speak English?"

"As well as I can Vulpine," I say, rubbing my face, thankful for the respite. "So that's a yes, officer."

"Your name?"

"First and last or full?"

"Full name, please," he says, obviously bored.

"Theodore Michael Aspen.

"Date of birth?"

"Couldn't tell you, actually."

"Why not?"

"Because Terra uses a different calendar than Earth does, that's why."

"I see. So how many years ago?"

"Sixteen years ago, Earth-timewise, plus an extra day. Today is the twenty-seventh, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," the officer says, scratching something down on his pad of paper that's right in front of him on his desk. "Address?"

"713 Carroll Street, right here in Barre."

"Got it. SSID?"

"What's an SSID?" I ask, just wanting these cuffs off right now.

"You know what, if you don't know what an SSID is, chances are that you don't have one," the officer says, sighing. "So what're you being accused of? Let me guess, you didn't do it, right? I've worked here for over a decade and a half, and no person has ever come in here who's ever committed the crime that they've been accused of."

"Then we're got problems," I say. "What's wrong with this planet's justice system?"

"Nothing at all, it's just that everybody's always convinced that they've done nothing wrong."

"Well, then I can be the first, officer, because I did attack that officer, I'm guilty of that at the very least."

"You mean you actually did what you were accused of? First time in fifteen years, someone admits to a crime."

"Yeah, I did it," I say, "now can you let me go?"

"Sorry, no can do," the officer says. "Those cuffs aren't coming off until you're put in a holding cell, and you're not leaving until you face a jury."

_Well, I'm screwed, that's for sure._

"How long until that happens?" I ask, scared and desperate. "I don't want to be here, and I'm scared…"

"I understand that, sir, but you can't leave. If you're here in this station, you've committed a crime, and the only way to get out is to serve time, usually. Either that or you could post bail, but in this place, it's usually a hundred thousand dollars or more, and don't ask me why. Any crime is worth an exorbitant fine in this here city of ours. The safer bet is to just face trial, believe me. What're the rest of you in here for?"

"The officer that arrested me asked if anyone else wanted to join me, and all of my friends told him that they did, so here we all are."

"Hmm, interesting. Go and sit on the bench by the wall there and wait while I book the rest of your friends.

"Yes, sir," I say, going to sit on the bench where he's told me to, all the meanwhile wondering just how it's possible for me to have gotten myself into such a mess.

I don't know, but what I do know is that both Mama and Mrs. Neve- Bianca- will be royally flocking  _pissed_  when they find out what's happened to us.

But they're not here yet, so I've just got to sit here and wait, all the while thinking  _flock this_  until they do.


	9. Chapter Nine: Cold and Hard

Chapter Nine: Cold and Hard

Eventually, the officer has everyone booked, and we all shuffle into the banks of rather tiny, cramped, musty and dark holding cells that the city has. They're awfully run down, and I wonder why, not that it really matters, of course, mostly just to keep my mind off the whole "I've gotten my dumb ass locked up" thing that is now pretty much the entirety of reality right about now, and I have to say that it's probably a good thing that I'm keeping my mind off of that particular topic.

On another paw, Mama still hasn't shown up yet, and nor has either Papa or Bianca. I can't help but wonder where they've gone off to, or maybe even if they've forgotten about us. I'm sincerely hoping and praying that it's not the second one of those possibilities, because I'm cold and scared, but thankfully, I'm not alone.

That, at the very least, is quite the reassurance, and I'm going to need a lot of reassurance over the course of however long this is going to be. I don't know how the human justice system works, and like I've said before, I was never one to get myself into any trouble back on Terra.

"Theo? Are you alright in there?" comes Jenna's whisper, snapping me any my mind out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Jenna," I say back. "Just cold, wet, tired and scared is all. How're you holding up? Everything all good in your corner of this jail?"

"Oh, it's just wonderful back here," she says, grinning. Thankfully, it's not so dark in here so as to make it so we can't see each other, so I can see that everyone's okay from my spot in the first cell near the door."

"How's everyone else holding up?" I as, rubbing my arms as the cold of this room starts to seep in through my fur, or maybe it already had and I just haven't noticed it until now with how tired and worn out I've been.

"A freaking ball of nerves, for one," Jenna says, to which everybody nods agreement. "Why can't this world be just a little fairer towards us mammals, eh? We've never done anything to them…"

"Well," I say, "I did kinda try to eat one of them, so I don't suppose that they appreciated that very much, does anyone else?"

"Yeah, no, I can't say that they'd appreciate it very much. I think that's what they call cannonballism."

"Trying to be a pirate?" Isaac asks, smiling broadly in the dim light. "It's cannibalism, Theo."

"Same difference," I grumble. "It's cold in here and I'm more concerned with not freezing than saying words that I've never heard before and trying to make sure that they're said the right way."

"Fair enough, mammal," Isaac says, his breath starting to steam up right in front of his face, and I can tell he hates it from the way his ears start to flatten.

"Are you alright, mam?" I ask, starting to feel worried now. "You don't look so hot."

"Oh, don't worry," Isaac says, starting to look pale, and before he can say anything else, he bends over the trash can that's out in the hallway (or, well, as close to that as he can manage).

Thankfully for him, most of the vomit ends up out in the hallway, but a good chunk of it ends up all over his front, splattering down his chin and all over the floor outside, making the whole area smell like bile.

"Urgh," Isaac groans, wiping the rest of the vomit off of his muzzle with the back of one paw and licking his lips, trying to get the rest of the bile off.

"Yech," Isaac groans. "That tastes awful…"

"I bet it does, mam," I say. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," he says, licking his lips in a rather vain effort to get the last remaining flecks of vomit off of his face. "I dunno why the heck I just threw up all over the place, but I can tell you that I absolutely hate the taste of my own bile."

"I can't blame you," Tony says from his place in the cell across from me. "I'm glad you're okay there. How long do you think it's going to be before we get our trials, eh?"

"I have no idea," I say, feeling a flash of worry take hold of my heart. "But I know that I'm probably going to freeze first."

"Don't jinx it," I say, teeth chattering faster and faster as time goes on. "Does anyone have any idea when we're going to get out of here, because I don't really want to wait...," I grumble. " I'm freezing my tail off here and I really just want to get out of here, you know?"

"I know the feeling," Tony says, giving me a half-frozen smile. "But I think we're going to have a visitor soon," he says. "Listen."

I do as I'm told, perking my ears up so that they catch any sound that passes by, and yep, sure enough, I hear three voices outside our cells- Mama's, Papa's, and Mrs. Neve's, each of them equally worried about us, and probably even more scared.

"When they come in, could someone ask them for some water, please?" Isaac says, having already taken his shirt off to get rid of the stench, and then used it as a rag to clean the rest of the vomit off as best as he could.

Unfortunately for him, there are no towels anywhere, and even after Mama looks for towels everywhere, even looking to the guards and asking them if they could find some, they have no luck, and it takes them two more hours to find anything to clean him off, two hours of Mama and Papa both griping at the guards and telling them to hurry up and do something, two hours of Isaac slowly whimpering as we all sit here, wondering how long it's going to be before this world decides to get its act together and treat us like decent people for once instead of trolling us and chewing us up and then spitting us out in bloody, messy, rather gravely wounded heaps.

That's an awful metaphor, I know, but I think that it's just about the truest one that I could ever come up with.

I hate this planet, I really do, and yet… and yet, I really can't ever see myself leaving this place, this planet, really, because I don't want to be here any more. Not here on Earth 'here,' more here in jail for fighting back when a flocking cop decided to taze my mate. That was the final straw, which, like me, has probably snapped by now.

What to do, what to do, really, what should I do? I have no idea, and I'm kinda sick of sitting here in the cold, freezing my tail off.

Of course, what option do I have? I attacked an officer, that's a punishable offense both here on Earth and Terra, and that's something that I don't even have to worry about, I know it is.

Now just to figure out how long they're going to send me away for, I can only guess that it's going to be a very long time, and a very long wait here in this ol' cell, freezing and hoping that everything will turn out alright, even though I know that I'm probably screwed.

Not ten seconds later, I hear the metallic clank that means that someone's coming. The only ones that have keys are the officers, but I hear more feet coming. Hopefully, it's either Mama or Papa, or maybe even both of them together. That would be nice, and hopefully it means that they've brought towels with them, I can tell that Isaac is getting a little sick of still being covered in his own vomit.

"Here you are, Isaac," Mama says, handing him two towels, which he takes eagerly, using them to clean himself off as best as he can. Thankfully for all of us (and even more so for him), most of the mess comes off, and then Mama kneels down to clean the rest off of the floor and off of his face, giving him the saddest look that I've ever seen on a human, the lines in her forehead creasing together in the middle as she frowns.

"I wish you didn't have to be here," she says, wiping the rest of the mess of of his ears, because somehow some of the mess got all the way back there.

"Yeah, well, I am, and I'm just going to have to wait until I can get out. I'm just as guilty as the rest…"

"No, you're not, Isaac," I say from the dark unpleasantness of my own cell. "I was the one who got all of you guys into this mess, so if anyone should be the one to shoulder all of the blame for this damn mess, then it ought to be me. I'm the troublemaker here, I'm the one who should be sitting here, not any of you. All of you guys must hate me now, right?"

When no one answers, I ask again. "Right?"

When someone finally does say something, they don't sound happy with me. "Look, Theo, for the last God-damn flocking time, no! No, we don't hate you, why would we?" Jenna sputters, trying to keep her cool, regain her composure, and not explode, though I can see the frustration in her eyes, and I can't say I blame her.

But no negatives, I'm trying so flocking hard to not be negative.

"So you don't hate me?" I ask, and when everyone shakes their heads no, I say,"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Theo," Alaina says, smiling at me through the bars that divide all of us from one another. "So, Mama," she says, giving her the warmest smile that she can muster, "the real question becomes this one, then."

"What's that, Alaina?" Mama asks, stretching her own hand through the bars of Alaina's cell for her to take, which Alaina does, and Mama smiles.

"Do you hate us, Mama? Are we more trouble than we're worth? I wouldn't blame you if you did, you know. Sometimes, and yeah, I know, I'm gonna sound like a complete hypocrite, but sometimes I wonder if we're really going to be worth the hassle that I know we're going to be, if we'd all just be better off if I went to go live on the streets like the dog I feel like."

"Why so negative, Alaina? You didn't do anything wrong, you know that, right?"

"Mom," Alaina says, letting a whine slip past her lips, "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I'm kinda sitting in jail. Most parents, as far as I know, hate it when their kids get in trouble, and they yell at them and scream and rant about how awful they are. Isn't that how it works? Aren't you supposed to supposed to be telling me how I'm an awful daughter and a wretched excuse for a wolf? Isn't that what parents do?"

"Alaina….." Mama says, tears starting to well as she takes Alaina's paw in hers, giving her a sad smile and stroking her ears. "You're not a bad wolf, no, you're not even a bad person. You made a bad decision, that's all. I don't hate you, no, not at all. Yes, I am mad that you five got arrested, but I can understand why. I get it, my kit, I really do, I was in the same boat when I was your age, too."

"You were?" Alaina asks, incredulous.

"I was, Alaina," Mama says, sighing, "I was."

"Really?" Alaina asks, curious now. "What did you even do?"

"Long story," Mama says. "But if you want, I can tell it to you."

"Yes, please," Alaina says, still sniffling. "I'd appreciate the distraction."

"I'll see what I can do, my kit, I'll see what I can do," Mama says, giving her a soft hug and wiping away her tears.

"So what can I do for you?" she continues. "What do you want to hear?"

"Well, Mama, what do you mean that you were in the same boat as we were when you were our age?"

"Well, I never fit in, either, if you can believe that. I know, it sounds crazy, seeing as I seem rather well-adjusted, right?"

"Call me stupid," I mutter, "but what does 'well-adjusted' mean?"

"Something that I don't think any of us really are," Tony says, smiling widely as his tail swishes back and forth behind him. "Basically, it means that we're able to deal with whatever life throws at us, or if you want something closer to a dictionary definition, that we're mentally stable, and if you're asking this particular mammal, I would be lying to everyone if I said that I fit into either of those categories. What about you, Theo? What do you think?"

"At the risk of sounding like a complete loon," I say, "I'm gonna bet that I'm closer to the 'going nuts' side of those definitions. Well-adjusted? Yeah, definitely not this fox."

"That's what puberty'll do to you, Theo," Mama says, and I can see that she's trying to fight a laugh.

"What's so funny?" I ask her, and she smiles. "What is it?"

"Mood swings getting to ya, are they, Theo?" she laughs.

"Um, yeah," I say, blushing and instinctively putting a paw behind my ears in embarrassment. "I guess they are, why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," she says.

"That's fine," I mutter, feeling the cold of the floor start to seep through my clothes, although, like I've said, I really am a mess. "Mama?" I ask, putting a paw through the bars of the cage for her to take.

"Yes, Theo?"

"Will you take my paw, please, Mama?" I ask her as I shiver and try to hug my tail with my other paw.

"Yes, I will, my kit, I will," Mama says, giving my paw a squeeze, and before I can stop myself, I give her hand a lick, and thankfully, to her credit, instead of yanking her hand back like I was half expecting her to. I thought that she was going to hate me for it, and with the way that my luck's been, it would have surprised me even less to feel a slap across my muzzle for being a bad fox.

"You don't hate me?"

"Didn't I tell you my answer to that already, Theo?" she says, still not letting go of my paw. If anything, she just squeezes it harder, which is helping, thankfully, to soothe my already way-too-fucking-shot nerves.

"You did, Mama, you did," I say, sighing, "but that doesn't automatically mean that I'm going to believe you, you know."

"And why not?" Mama says, her grip on my paw still not weakening any.

"Because I've been a bad mammal, that's why, and I know it, you know it, and I'm pretty sure that this whole town either knows it already or is going to figure it out soon enough…."

At this proclamation, I get the response that I've been expecting all along- a hard slap to the face that makes me yelp in pain, and a whimper manages to slip past my lips.

"Thanks," I mumble, wiping tears out of the corners of my eyes. "I deserved that, didn't I?"

I can see Mama's lips start to move, and then I stop her. "Don't say anything, Mama," I tell her, "I already know what you're going to tell me, that yes, yes, I did deserve it, and this time, it's for being so negative, right?"

"You're right, Theodore," Mama says, using my full first name for the first time in quite a while. "That's exactly why. When are you going to learn?"

"When am I going to learn what?"

"That, Theo," she says, giving me another hard, horribly stinging slap to the side of my muzzle, only this time, she uses the back side of her hand, the diamond on her wedding ring digging my cheek, "was for, well, I don't think I should have to tell you why, right?"

"Right, Mama," I say, trying in vain to lick the cut that I can feel stinging on my cheek and failing, my tongue falling just short, and I can't help letting a growl slip past my lips. Thankfully, the cells aren't patrolled, so there aren't going to be any guards listening in to taze me or some hell like that. I don't know if my heart would be able to handle getting a charge like that- I may be human-sized, and I may be in shape, but yeah, several thousand volts through me? Dead fox, fried fox.

"Theo," Mama says, taking something out of her pocket- a small white packet, "let me help you, okay?"

"How? Can you afford bail for all of us?"

"No, Theo," Mama sighs, "that's not what I meant. What I was trying to say," she continues, unwrapping the packet and taking out something small.

"What is that, Mama?" I ask, shivering as a draft of cold air blows through my fur, only realizing that I've cut her off after I'm done speaking my thoughts. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, my bad. You were saying, Mama?" I ask, once more trying to lick off the blood that I can feel running down the side of my cheek, and once again, my tongue falls short.

"Here, Theo," she says, holding the little thing that she took out of the package earlier.

"What is that, Mama?" I ask her.

"It's an alcohol wipe, Theo, it'll get that blood off, I'm sorry for scratching you."

"Don't worry about it, Mama," I say, reaching my right paw out to take her open hand. "Do you mind if I hold on to this for a while?"

"Not at all, Theo, not at all. Here," she says, wiping the blood off of me and onto the little wipe. "Are you okay there?"

"Just about as okay as I'm going to get, Mama," I say, wincing slightly as the alcohol of the wipe starts to sting my cuts.

"Ow, ow, ow…," I whimper, putting a paw to my now stinging cheek as I wrap my tail around me with my other paw. "Damn it…, ugh, when am I going to be the hell out of here?"

"As soon as you face trial, Mister Aspen," says one of the guards, who apparently snuck in behind Mama without anyone noticing.

"Do you know when that's going to be?" I ask. "I'm hungry, I'm tired, my paws are aching, and these freaking cells are freezing."

"Tomorrow morning, so I've heard. You said you're hungry?"

"Yeah, I am," I say, and as if on cue, my stomach lets out a loud growl. "I haven't eaten in more than two days…"

"Here, let me get you all something," the guard says, which takes me by surprise. A kind human? Okay, I'll take the risk.

"I'll be back," he continues. "I'm going to get you all food, you can't be the only hungry mammal here, are you?"

"No, he's sure as flock not," Tony grumbles. "We're all hungry here, would you mind bringing something for all of us as well?"

"Not a problem," the guard says. "So that's how many? Let's see," he mumbles, counting all of us. "Five, got it, I'll be back soon. In the meantime, you all have another visitor."

"Who is it?" Jenna asks, rubbing her paws in a seemingly futile effort to stay warm.

"You'll see," the guard says, heading out the door as Papa comes in. "You have twenty minutes, sir," he says, paying no heed to Mama for some reason.

"Of course, sir," Papa says, coming to sit by my cell next to Mama. "Here, Theo," he says, handing me all of us trays of food, as well as a towel for Isaac, a small, rather thin and ratty thing that has no hope of cleaning up either him nor this mess on the floor.

"Thanks, Mister Maranza," he says, trying his best to get the mess off of the floor, which works, but it still leaves him covered in his own vomit.

Thankfully, it looks like Papa has a change of clothes for him, but this is an open cell, and there is no privacy, and no more clean towels to cover him up, but what can you do?

Nothing, that's what, but when life gives you lemons-

Squirt them in Mister Marlboro's eyes and blind him.

Yeah, that sounds about right, and it gives me plenty of things to imagine, things to keep my mind of the fact that I'm halfway freezing to death in here.

Now, let's see, what do I have for food?

Ugh, it looks awful- the meat is freezing to the touch, and yep, the potatoes are ice cold and they feel like they just came out of the freezer.

Then again, though, that wouldn't surprise me. If the rest of this place is anything like these cells, I don't want to know what's out there.

But I don't have a choice, I'm going to be sentenced tomorrow, at the latest, and that punishment's sure to be a lot crueler and harsher than in here.

What that punishment could be, though, I don't know if I want to find out, but I know that I don't have a say in that. I'll find out what my punishment'll be soon enough.

In the meantime, though, I'm stuck here, freezing my tail off and stuck eating sticky near-frozen mashed potatoes. Eh, it's absolutely flocking disgusting, this glop that the prison calls food, but it's better than nothing.

"Hey, Isaac?" I call out, desperate for some conversation- it's too quiet in here, and maybe it's just because my ears are pin-drop sensitive, I swear that I can hear the dust settling.

"Yeah, Theo?" he asks, smiling somewhat now that he has a change of clothes.

"Just when do you thing that we're going to be able to get the flock out of here?"

"Now there's a great question, man, I have no idea, to tell you the truth," he says, tapping his fingers on the bars of his cell, the tapping making them ring like the loose-strung bars of a wind chime. "Damn," he mutters, picking at his fingers. "If I still had my claws, I could try to get us out of here, maybe I could pick the locks, but no such luck there…"

"I don't even think that you'd be able to pick them, Isaac," Tony adds in. "Do you see how there are boxes up at the tops of the doors, over near where the bars go into the ceiling?"

"Um, yeah, I do," Isaac says. "Why?"

"Because that means that these cells are magnetically locked. If we were to pick the locks, those boxes up at the top would kick magnets on and hold them shut. My point is, Isaac," he continues, the spots on his face beginning to seem almost like black bruises in this light, "that there's no way that we're going to be able to get out of here on our own. Instead, we're stuck waiting for the guards with their keycards to let us out, and that's not going to be until whenever our trial is. At least there's food, right?"

"Can you even call this shit food?" I hear Alaina mutter. " 'Cause it sure as flock doesn't look like it's edible, and believe you me, I've seen some pretty awful-looking shit in my life. In fact, that might actually be edible, but this stuff, whatever it is, isn't edible, and it sure as flock is not food."

"Look, Alaina," Jenna says, "I don't like it either, but what options do we have? We don't have any other food, and we're not going to get any more food for quite a good long while, if I had to guess, so please, for your own good, eat it."

"For my own good, bah," Alaina grumbles, crossing her arms across her chest like a stubborn, defiant kit. "Do you have any idea how many times I've heard that line, Jenna? Do you?"

"Um, no, actually," Jenna says. "I don't. You don't tell us much, Alaina, so no. All I really know about you is that your parents both died in a car crash when you were a little kit, that you're sixteen, and that you're a gray wolf. That's about it. Oh, and I also know that you have the hots for my brother."

"What? No I don't," Alaina sputters, trying and failing hilariously to cover her tracks. No pun intended, I suppose, but whatever, I'll take my humor dry and on the rocks.

"Really, you don't?" Jenna asks, smirking. "And I thought that I was the one who had no sense of humor here."

"Fine, fine, you win," Alaina says, letting a smile slip onto her face. "You win, Jenna, you win."

"I'm glad I do," Jenna says, taking a bite of her food and struggling to keep it down. "Oh, gross, this stuff is disgusting, I see what you mean, Alaina, but nevertheless, I'm going to try and eat it. I'm a good fox, oh, yes I am, and besides, I have three kits to take care of."

"What do you-?" Alaina begins, and then cuts herself off. "Sorry, never mind, it's been a long day."

"Don't worry about it," Jenna says, choking down another bite of gloppy mashed potatoes. "It's not the end of the world."

"No, that's coming soon enough," Alaina says, curling up into a ball on the floor and tucking her tail over her nose. "Now, if you let me, I'm going to go to sleep. It's getting late, I'm tired and stressed, and I need to go to sleep."

"Not a problem, Alaina," I say, curling up into my own little fox-ball. "I've got to do the same thing. Good night."

As soon as I close my eyes, I'm asleep, thankfully, and nothing happens. No dreams come, neither good nor bad, and well, I'd rather have that over a nightmare, my life's been enough of one of those on its own for my brain to decide to jump onto the 'torment Theo' bandwagon.

When I wake up in the morning, there's a tray of food inside my cell, and this time, it actually looks warm and somewhat edible. It has to be a trap, but well, I really don't care. My life can't get any worse, can it? It's already bad enough. As if on cue, I swear it's on cue, a guard comes marching into the cell block, massive ring of keys jangling.

"Get up, vermin!" he shouts, making sure to blow on his whistle, and everyone save for Tony clamps their paws over their ears. It's a dog whistle, I realize. A fucking dog whistle, like that's all we are is worthless dogs.

Then again, though, that can't be too far from the truth now, can it?

No, not really.

Woo, fun! Welcome to hell, Theo, it's going to be just wonderful!


	10. Chapter Ten: Court Ordered

Chapter Ten: Court Ordered

 

As the guard unlocks our cells and we all file out, I notice how worn to the bone everyone looks, and although I know that that’s usually used as a figure of speech, well, in this case, it’s rather literal. The luster’s gone out of everyone’s eyes, and their fur looks as if it’s been coated in a thin layer of ash. If that’s what they look like, I don’t want to even think about what  _ I  _ look like. I can’t even think about what my  _ breath  _ smells like, it must be awful, and as for the rest of me?

 

Yeah, that’s awful too. The t-shirt that I’m wearing is all stained, and there are some rather suspicious rust-red splotches all over its front.

 

You know what the worst part about of all of it is? I’m the one out of our pack here that’s in the best shape. Tony’s fur’s starting to pale out, Alaina’s eyes are bloodshot, Isaac’s rubbing his paws together maniacally, and Jenna’s tail is flicking back and forth, back and forth behind her like she’s trying to swat flies with it. As for me, I can feel my ears digging into the top of my head from how hard they’re pressed down, and if the taste of salt and iron that’s starting to seep onto the tip of my tongue is any sign, I’ve been worrying the darn thing a bit too much.

 

“Where are we going?” I mutter, mostly out of what, fear? Quite honestly, I don’t even know anymore. The last few days have all just turned into a long blur, and I have no idea what today is. If I had to guess, it’s the twelfth of January, that sounds about right.

 

Unfortunately, though, it’s not going to matter right now, because all that’s going to matter right now, and probably for the rest of my (probably now very soon-ending) life is whether or not the judge decides guilty or not guilty.

 

A few minutes later, we’ve reached the court. I think it’s kinda odd to have a courthouse attached to a jail, but hell, at least we’re going to get a trial.

 

I don’t know what I should be expecting as I enter the court; I was half-expecting to see stone walls with bloody chains hanging from them.

 

Thank Karma above that that’s not the case, but well, it’s still a courtroom, with an entire jury box and all, and well, it has me feeling like I’m going to scat my pants at any second.

 

Maybe that would make the jury feel sorry for me, but no probably not. With my luck, they’d just think that I was even more disgusting than I’m sure that they already do.

 

Thankfully for all of us, we all look like absolute fucking  _ shit _ right now. Now, I’m not usually one to use the non-animal curses that I know, but I’ve been on this planet for long enough that I’m going to learn how to, especially considering that it now looks like I’m going to be staying on this planet for the rest of my life, however long that could possibly be, considering that most of it is probably going to be spent looking at the inside of a concrete jail cell, unless, of course, I get lucky, and it’s a pretty well-known fact that luck is never on a fox’s side.

 

Of course, though, the looks and jeers that I’m getting from the jurors as we all take the stand just serve to make that feeling settle ever and ever deeper into my gut.

 

Of course, as I’m walking to the box up at the front, where I’m going to guess that we’re supposed to sit. I don’t know, I just know that I’m feeling like history is starting to repeat itself, especially with how my tail is snaked around my legs (quite honestly, I don’t know how I haven’t managed to trip over it yet), and it’s just giving me the ever-worsening impression that I’m not going to get out of this one alive, and if, by some miracle Karma decides to save my hide and let me get out of this one, it sure won’t be with all of it.

 

As we sit down on the bench in the front, the one marked  _ Defense _ , I’m fighting (and failing miserably) to keep my ears up and my claws in their sheaths, keep my tail from whipping itself off of my rear end, failing  **_miserably._ **

 

I know  this isn't going to turn out good for anyone,  especially not me.

 

I wish we wouldn’t have to be in this situation the first place but I got us into it,  and now it's going to be my job to get us out. For goodness’ sake, I wish I knew what to do, but sweet Karma, I don't, I don’t, I don’t.

 

Flock me, I’m screwed, so now to hope that the judge and jury can’t tell that from where they’re seated.

 

“Theo?” Alaina whispers to me, fear the whole of her voice. “I’m scared, Theo…”

 

“And you think I’m not, sis?” I ask her, stretching out my free paw to her for her to take, the other one’s currently being wrung out by my mate, who looks about as pale as it’s possible for her to be, which, considering the fact that she’s almost all silver, is, granted, it’s not too much farther, but well, it’s not good…

 

“Jenna, are you alright there?” Alaina asks, having apparently noticed the same thing I have.

 

“Not exactly,” she says. “I look like scat, I know, but believe you me, I feel even worse…”

 

“Then all of us had better be hoping and praying, huh? Hoping and praying a lot…,” I say, sighing. “I’m going to pray, at the very least, I think we’re going to need some sort of divine intervention to get us out of this crock of scat….”

 

“I may swear to Karma sometimes, Theo,” she says, “but I’m an atheist, okay? I gave up on Karma years ago, so really, what we’re going to need is a scat-ton of luck.”

 

“Same thing, as far as I’m concerned,” I say, trying to tune out the mounting jeers that are echoing throughout the chamber, making it nearly impossible for us to hear one another over them.

 

I don’t know what the flock is wrong with this world, but I’m thinking that there’s seriously something. It’s still better than Terra, at the least, and that’s saying something, although I’m not quite sure, exactly, what that something is.

 

Five minutes of (no pun intended) catcalls later, the judge bangs his gavel, silencing the room, and now, the only thing that any of us mammals can hear is the whispers of our out terrified breathing, as well as the  _ flick-flick-flick _ s of our tails as they twitch back and forth behind us.

 

In fact, compared to the jeers of just a few seconds earlier, this is almost peaceful. Well, peaceful enough until the judge bangs his gavel again. “Court is now in session,” he says, glaring down at us from the bench.

 

“I hope this turns out well, for both sides’ sakes,” he says, in a low whisper that I’m sure only us mammals with sharp hearing can pick up on. “I hate animals, I hope the fuckers don’t come kill me…. Disgusting beasts…”

 

I look at everyone else, feeling a flash of panic, my thoughts starting to run wild.

 

_ Scatscatscatscat…. _

 

_ “Did you hear that?”  _ I whisper to Jenna.

 

_ “Hear what, Theo? Nobody said anything…” _

 

_ “The judge-” _ I begin, but then another bang of the gavel on the stand shuts my mouth.

 

“Court is now called to order, didn’t you hear?” the judge says. “All rise, please, or are you too foolish to figure out what that means?”

 

“I-” I begin, but then Alaina slices a finger across her throat, and I shut my mouth.

 

“That’s better. Now, I only just came back from Florida yesterday, and I only left because I got assigned this case, so let’s get this done and over with, shall we. My name is James Reid, you will address me as either ‘Your Honor’ or ‘sir,’ is that understood?”

 

“Yes, Your Honor,” I say, nodding, and everyone else follows suit.

 

“Good,” the judge says, opening the sheaf of papers on his whatever it is- desk? stand? Ah, it doesn’t matter what the flocking thing’s called, what matters is that now is when we find ourselves being sent to jail for the rest of our lives, and damn it, it’s not fair, it was self-defense, doesn’t this world understand that?

 

I guess not, at least, not for those that are different than them. If what I’ve read about the culture of this planet is right, which I don’t know if it is, we’re screwed scatless. Then again, though, we might-  _ might _ live, because, like I know I’ve griped countless times before, this planet loves to torture us, and what better way to do just that than to force us to stay here.

 

“Let’s get this started, shall we? I have to admit, it’s quite peculiar, this case is. So,” he says, picking up a file off of his desk, the one that, should I have to guess, contains a case summary or something like that, and leafing through it.

 

“This file says that you tried to kill three police officers, Mister-?” the judge asks. I don’t know why, I’d think that that file he has would tell him my name, but better safe than sorry.

 

“Aspen,” I say. “Theo Aspen.”

 

“Is that your full name?” the judge asks, peering over the top of his eyeglasses. “I thought that Theo was usually short for-”

 

“Theodore, yes, sir, it is,” I say. “My full name is Theodore Michael Aspen, if that helps you any, and yes, I’m a fox, yes, I’m from Terra,  _ no, _ I’m not here to invade the planet, if that helps you any, are any of my fellow mammals here with me, I swear on my life!”

 

“Well, unfortunately, your life isn’t worth much here on Earth, Mister Aspen, so before I recommend to the jury that they seek the death penalty,  _ please, _ explain yourself, why don’t you?”

 

“Gladly,” I say, gulping and beginning to feel my ears press against my head, and damn it, I even smell terrified.  _ Great. _

 

“So,” I continue, “I came here with my friend Alaina at the end of last August, so about four and a half months ago. We’re Venturers, and in case you’re wondering what the flocking hell that is, think of it like this: we’re exchange from Terra, you  _ do _ know what that is, right?”

 

“Yes, I do,” the judge says, pinching the bridge of his nose, and I can tell that scat’s only going to get worse from here. “It’s a planet full of wild animals who all seem to think that they’re civilized, for whatever reason, I don’t know why or how they ever could think that, I thought that they would know better than that, I mean, I may be one of only five Terrans on Earth, as far as I know, but you’d think that these people would know better.

 

I guess not, so now we’re going to have to stand trial not as people, which, need I remind everyone, we still are, but as animals. Maybe it’s the teeth that’s setting people off, I don’t know, and really, I don’t care. What I  _ do  _ care about, though, is not getting placed here in this dark place for the rest of my life.

 

Yeah, that’d be nice, I think.

 

“So what lead you to try and kill that officer?” the jude says. “I know you did, don’t even try to say that you didn’t,  _ fox, _ ” he growls. “I won’t believe you.”

 

Now, I suppose that trials aren’t supposed to go this way, I know they’re not, and it’s not fair to anyone that they are, but that’s just a fox’s luck, I suppose. What else is new?

 

Nothing, that’s what, so I’d better give him the answer that he wants to hear, otherwise, we’re all flocked, and it’s part of a fox’s instincts to protect his mate. I’m probably not going to be there to see my kits be born or see them grow up, but if I can give myself to save them, well, that’s a deal I’m willing to make.

 

“Fine, then,” I growl. “If you’re not going to listen, then I’m just going to have to assume that you won’t care if I explain myself to you, either, right?”

 

Not waiting for him to answer, I continue. Flock him, I’m telling my side of this  _ fucking _ story, even if not a single person is going to listen, because then, when I’m greeting my visitors and saying hello to them from the other side of jail cell bars, at least I’m going to be able to say that I tried.

 

“So, let’s start from the beginning,  _ your honor, _ ” I say, fighting the urge to bare my teeth at the bastard, “if you don’t mind. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to explain it to people who seem to think that we’re freaks.  _ Hint, hint,  _ by the way, tailhole. Anyways, as I’ve said to everyone-  _ everyone _ that I’ve run into, I’m not here to kill everyone, and no, I have no idea what the portal or whatever the flying flock it is is doing in the sky” I say, hating how nasty I’m being, but really, right at this moment, I don’t give a flying flock, and nor do I have any flocks to give. This bastard is threatening my family, and that’s a line that you do  _ not _ cross with a fox.

 

Need I remind this guy, I am one, so, yeah, this isn’t going to be good…

 

“I find that highly unlikely,” the judge says, “but as you should know, Mister Aspen, that’s not why we’re here. You stand accused of trying to kill six police officers, as well as six counts of assault and battery. How do you plead?”

 

“What does assault and battery mean?” I ask, feeling like the Worlds’ biggest fool. “Isn’t that what runs a toy or clock?”

 

“Don’t be insolent, you stupid mongrel!” the judge shouts, and I flinch, my paws having flown to my ears out of instinct.

 

“Y-yes, sir,” I yelp, tail twisting tightly around my legs, nearly tripping myself, and by this point, it’s all I can do not to break down into tears, or worse, let a whine slip out of my mouth. That’s the last thing I want to happen: this guy, whatever so-called judge that he’s pretending to be, he’s not going to give us the benefit of the doubt, and he’s made it  _ way _ too plain that he already thinks us no better than dogs, and now I get what my soon to be brother-in-law (that is, assuming we make it out of here alive) feels like when somebody calls him a good boy. I mean, in their defense, he  _ does _ kinda look like a golden retriever, but that’s way, way,  _ way _ beside the point.

 

“Now, I’ve read you the charges, and the jury has already deliberated,” he says, gesturing with a sweep of one flabby arm. How do you plead?”

 

“I- I-,” I stutter. “Won’t I have any chance to defend myself? What kind of court is this?”

 

“A kangaroo court, what else? What kind of court would be better to try animals?”

 

“But what about fair treatment under law? Doesn’t that apply?”

 

“You’re not a citizen, you’re not even worth letting live, considering that you tried to kill all of the department’s officers, but unfortunately, I can’t just have you put to sleep, but oh, I’d love to,” he says. “So here stands the sentence: life in prison, or, well, there does seem to be a war on, and well, we need some fodder for the front lines. Your pick, Theodore. As for your friends, well, they’ll face the same, of course, except for your mate of course. I  _ do _ have a sense of decency, so she can stay here on Earth under house arrest. How’s that sound? Don’t try and change my mind, I’ll only get stricter. Fair?”

 

_ No,  _ I think,  _ not flocking fair, but then again, what choice do I have? It’s my duty to protect my family, and if this is how I’m going to have to do it, then that’s what I’ll do. _

 

“Fair,” I say, dropping my head and letting my eyes’ gaze drift to my feetpaws, and I see that they’re covered in blood, and I can’t help but wonder how long I’ve been bleeding for. I’ve gone numb to the pain by now, so who knows, really.

 

“I’m glad to hear it. You’ll ship out in a week, that goes for all of you, understood?”

 

“Yes, sir,” we all say, our voices barely above whispers, and then the guards drag us out of the courtroom, leaving Mama, Papa, and Mrs. Neve screaming behind us. It’s all I can do not to break any farther, with my luck, I’ll get whipped or something like that, but that’s a fox’s luck, right?

 

Cold and hard?

 

Yeah, that sounds about right.

 

_ Karma,  _ I pray,  _ help me, please. I don’t deserve this scat, but please, please,  _ **_please_ ** _ let me surive this. _

 

“Are you guys all okay? I ask, fighting the shakiness out of my voice, and I feel awful, but even though I’ve always tried to say pawsitive (ha ha) I’m flocking done.

 

“I think we’re about as okay as we can be, but would someone mind explaining to this dumb wolf what the hell just happened?”

 

“Sure,” I say, “and I’m surprised that he wasn’t smoking, quite honestly. I’ll leave it there and let you guys figure it out, hmm?”

 

“Mister Marlboro?”

 

“Exactly. I have no idea what he is, but there’s no fucking way that he’s human, and I really want to let some curses fly, but yeah, no, I don’t want to get whipped. Jenna,” I continue, “I don’t know what to say, I just-”

 

“Don’t say anything, Theo, I know, I get it. You go,” she says, planting a kiss full on my lips before the guards shove us apart.

 

“Animals,” one of them mutters. “At least we’ll be getting rid of them soon, right? With their luck they’ll die soon.”

 

“If only,” the other laughs, patting his fellow soldier on his shoulder. “They’ll be dead soon, I hear the war’s getting worse.”

 

“And we’re reserve, so aren’t we lucky?”

 

_ I’m trying so damn hard not to attack them. Down, Theo, down, bad boy,  _ I chide myself.  _ Things don’t look good now, but well, that’s the life that you’re damned to live, deal with it. _

 

_ Yes, sir. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. Chapter Eleven: Frick, Flock, F***

_Well, I’m fucked, to say the least, but then again, what can you do?_

 

_Abso-fucking-lutely nothing, that’s what. I’m sure that I probably look like I’m insane, even more so than I already am. For whatever reason, it’s gotten warmer in here, and well, what do we canids do when it’s warm? Usually, we pant, and well, after doing that for the last ten hours or so while we’re roasting here, all of my spit’s started to foam around my mouth. It’s sure not going to help my case any, that’s for sure._

 

_To anyone looking at us that doesn’t know squat about canids (like the general majority, so it seems), I’m sure we all look like we’re rabid._

 

_Yeah, life’s going down the drain._

 

_Well, at least I won’t be alive to have to deal with it for much longer, and then again, nor will anyone else. I know that a few of us besides me recognized the judge for who (or what, really) he truly was, the only thing missing being a Camel cigarette smoking in the corner of his mouth. I have no idea why I would find that funny, a guy called Marlboro smoking Camels, but for some reason, I just do._

 

But that’s beside the point here, what the point is is that soon enough, most of us are going to be shipped off to war, and, well, it’s my own damn fault. It’s my fault, and I can’t fix it.

 

_Why, world? Why can’t you be flocking fair for once?_

 

_Oh, wait, what a stupid question from such a foolish fox!_

 

Life’s not fair, but what the hey, I’d have to be crazy to ever think that it would be. If it were, I would be healthy, my ribs wouldn’t be twinging like they are now, and I wouldn’t look like I was rabid. If life were fair, I would be at home with Mama and Papa, sitting around the fire with my sister and my mate, but no, no, no, I just had to leap on the fucker, of course I did and now we’re here, and I’m probably going to die soon.

 

Add that to the ever-growing list of things that ‘Theo Still Needs To Worry About,’ and I’m starting to wonder how I haven’t completely lost it.

 

Honestly, I have no idea, and I’m wondering if I ever had it to begin with. No, probably not. Well, not even _probably_ not, _definitely_ not.

 

Yeah, life sucks, but no, I can’t worry about it, I can’t worry about it, I just can’t worry about it because I know that if I start worrying about it I won’t be able to-

 

“Agh!” I shout. “I can’t stand this anymore, it’s driving me nuts, or rather, even more so that I already am,” I say, causing the guards escorting us back to our cells to let go of the chains of the cuffs binding everyone’s paws, and for a split second I think about running, but then I find myself being shoved to the floor, and only one other thought seems able to get through the panic that’s now flooding my mind.

 

_Oh, flock me._

 

Well, that, just a _lot_ more impolite version, including every single curse I know.

 

“What the fuck is wrong with you, you son of a bitch?” the guard whose body-armored knee is now digging into my back, and I want to fight him, but instead, the pistol whose cold metal barrel is now pressed between my ears, right to the skin on the back of my head. “Am I going to need this, you _savage?_ ” he snarls, and I shake my head, hating that I can’t fight back the whines that slipping from my throat or the tears that are wetting the fur under my eyes.

 

“What?” the guard snarls at me once again, and it’s all I can possibly do not to scream in agony as the pain, which was already almost too much to bear, overwhelms me, and my brain decides to give me mercy for a short while as the world goes black.

 

I don’t know how much later it is, but when I open my eyes, everyone is standing around me, and yep, still cold all around me. Did they leave me here on the concrete or something? That wouldn’t surprise me, quite honestly.

 

Instead, when I get my eyes to open all the way, I’m shocked to find that I’m not a) still face-planted on the concrete floor, or b) dead.

 

Instead, I’m sitting at home, which makes no sense. Why the heck would I be at home? Am I dreaming this? I _have_ to be dreaming this, because there’s no way that I would be at home, right?

 

“You alright there, Theo?” I hear Papa’s voice say, and I look around to see where he is, where I am. Looks like I’m in my room, which yeah, makes no sense.

 

“I don’t know, Papa,” I say. “Where the heck am I? What happened?”

 

“You passed out there for a while, Theo,” Papa says, “that’s what happened.”

 

“Is it still today?” I ask.

 

“Uh, it’s always today,” Isaac interjects, and starts to say something else but stops when Jenna whacks him on the head.

 

“You know what he means, ya screwball,” she says, but she’s smiling at him. When she turns to me, though, that smile flickers slightly, and a split second later, it’s back to a full one.

 

“Are you alright there, Jenna?” I ask her. “How are the kits?”

 

“They’re just fine, Theo, although I’m surprised you’re doing as well as you are.”

 

“Ugh, don’t remind me, dear,” I say. “How long was I out, anyways, and what the heck am I doing here? Wasn’t I just in jail?”

 

“You’ve been released,” Alaina says from her spot next to the window, “and take a look at your ankle.”

 

I do, and I see that there’s a now a metal band around my left ankle, and when I try to tug it off, it won’t move, and it won’t come apart.

 

“What the heck is this thing?” I ask. “Why won’t it come off, and why the _flock_ is it even there in the first pace?”

 

“It’s an ankle monitor,” Alaina sighs, putting her head in her paws and sighing. “We’re all under house arrest, so yeah, I’ve got one too, and actually, we all have them. I don’t know when they’re coming off, if they’re going to be coming off at all…”

 

“But what do they do?” I ask. “And you didn’t answer my questions- why won’t it come off, and why the hell is the damn thing even there in the first place?”

 

“You’re under house arrest, too, Theo,” Mama says, “like the rest of the mammals in this house.”

 

“Uh-huh, but what does that have anything to do with why the **_flock_** I’m wearing this stupid thing, and- agh!” I shout, the damn thing having _shocked_ my ankle as I tried once again to tug it off.

 

“Fuck!” I snarl, and then I clap my paw over my muzzle. “Oh, geez, haven’t I ever learned to watch my mouth? I guess not, stupid me…”

 

“How many times, Theo?” Mama asks. “How many times-?”

 

“Do you have to tell me that I’m not stupid, and I don’t need to worry about it? Believe you me, I know, and I believe you. It’s just- ugh, I’ve been having quite a time of it, and I’m kinda tired and cranky…”

 

“And you don’t think that all of the rest of us are, too, Theodore?” Jenna says, her snarl taking me by surprise. “Look, I get it, you’ve had a rough time of it, but all of us just so happen to have been dragged along with you, so why do you keep dragging the matter back out of the closet? I thought we’d talked about this, hon. Seriously, learn to do like Elsa and Let. It. Go. Got it?”

 

“Yes, dear,” I gulp, feeling nervousness lodge like a rock at the back of my throat. “So how long until we can get ourselves the hell out of here?”

 

“You’re asking me?” Jenna asks. “I’ve been wondering that myself, dear.”

 

“So what now? Are we even allowed to go back to school?” I ask. “Seriously, I’ve never gotten in trouble before I came to Earth, so yes or no?”

 

“No, Theo, we’re stuck here until we’re either called out for service, or we’re just going to be forced to stay here for the rest of our lives.”

 

“Sounds just wonderful, Jenna, just plain wonderful,” I grumble. “So when are we all going to be shipped out?”

 

“I have no idea,Theo, I’m not going with any of you. Me, being the pregnant one here, that means that I get to be stuck here on Earth while it’s being bombed by creatures from who the fuck knows where, all while praying that none of you die. I think that sounds like it’s enough worrying for one fox to do all on her own, wouldn’t you say, Theo?”

 

“I have no idea, Jenna, and I’m not going to leave you as a widow, I swear, Scout’s honor,” I say, raising my right paw in the three-fingered salute that I’ve heard that the Scouts give, and by way of response, Jenna licks my cheek, a long wet lick that, were it not coming from her, I would probably hate and try to wipe away, wipe it dry and clean, but no, this is my mate, my _mate,_ and bastards be damned if they try to take her from me.

 

She’s what I have left, and if Iose her, then, well, what’s the point of my own life going on?

 

“Life’s so **_fucking_ ** unfair!” I say, my voice nearly a scream, and it scares me.

 

 _Calm down, Theodore,_ I chide myself. _You need to follow Elsa’s advice, seriously, mammal, if I didn’t know me, I would swear before a court that I was having a mental breakdown of some sort, and for all I know, I’m already broken, an old junker of a fox whose sanity motor’s beyond repair._

 

 _Oh no I don’t,_ I catch myself. _I know where this is going, and I can’t say that I like it._

 

“Theo, are you okay there, mam?” Isaac’s voice asks, and thankfully, like it seems to have the magic power to do, it snaps me out of my thoughts and back into the real world.

 

“Yeah, I’m alright,” I say, shaking my head in disgust at myself. “You would think that after sixteen years, I would learn, but I guess not, huh?”

 

“Take it from the wolf who seems to always be mistaken for a dog,” Isaac says, cracking a smile my way. “Some times, Theo, being a good boy is the worst thing you can be, and you just have to tell some people that then can just go fuck themselves. How’s that for advice?”

 

“Sounds good to me,” I laugh. “You win, Isaac, you fricking win.”

 

“Like any good wolf should always do. Does that mean you lose, and if you lose, that means I take your sister prisoner, right?”

 

“Look, man,” Alaina says, smiling a cockeyed smile at him, “If you really want to kiss me that badly, ya screwball, why didn’t you just ask?”

 

“I don’t know...” Isaac says, putting a paw behind his ears as his whole face lights up a bright red behind the tan fur covering it. “I- I thought that you would say no, I guess…”

 

“Gods, you’re just a nervous mess right now, aren’t you?” Alaina asks, grinning widely at him.

 

“Um…” Isaac sputters, and I can swear that I can see the smoke rising out of his ears as his brain goes up in flames as he tries to think of a decent answer. “I guess…?”

 

“That’s what I thought, Isaac,” Alaina says. “I think I can help you figure out how to be less nervous,” she says, smiling broadly at him.

 

After that, they leave the table, and that’s all the rest of us see of them until dinnertime, when both of them come to the table with ruffled fur and clothes. The same keeps happening for the next few days, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s been going on in Isaac’s bedroom at night, though they’re a lot better that Jenna and I were at covering our tracks.

 

All the while, Jenna’s belly has just been getting bigger and bigger, and all of a sudden, I have an idea. It’s early morning- early, _early_ morning, before even the sun’s decided to open its eyes and spread its light over the world for one more morning.

 

“Jenna, hon?” I ask her as I’m towelling off from taking a shower, and Jenna’s undressing to get in herself. I hope my nose isn’t bleeding…

 

“Yeah, Theo?” she asks. “If you want the shower, it’s all yours, if that’s what you’re after.”

 

“Yeah, that’d be great,” I say, taking my shirt off and going to take the rest off when I stop, realizing what I’m doing, but Jenna pats me on the shoulder, telling me it’s okay.

 

“Before I do, Jenna,” I ask, “I have a question.”

 

“What question?” she asks.

 

“When should we actually get married? I want to make it official as soon as possible, and after I leave, I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again…”

 

“How about we go ask Mama and Papa after you’re done in the shower, if all of my blood hasn’t run out my nose first, that is…”

 

“Sounds fair to me,” I say. “You know, Jenna, every day that I wake up, I thank whoever’s up there that could be listening to me that I have such a wonderful mammal to share my life with.

 

“I have another question, actually,” I say. “Do you think that they would let me take paternity leave until, well, you know…”

 

“You wouldn’t know unless you tried, Theo, but I’m more than willing to bet that the answer isn’t going to be a warm and rather receptive ’yes,’ now would you?”

 

“No, you’re right,” I say, putting a paw to my forehead in frustration, “they wouldn’t, so yeah, that’s a no.”

 

“Who cares, though, Theo? Why should it matter what they have to say? You’re great at letting people get to you, you know that?”

 

“All too well,” I grumble. “But you know what cheers me up?”

 

“Let me guess- I’m going to need to dry my fur off again?”

 

“Gee, Jenna,” I say, feeling my cheeks start to heat up under my fur, “how’d you know?”

 

“I have a nose, too, you screwball,” she says, tapping the end of it, “and you know, I make sure I’m healthy so mine works.”

 

“Am I really that obvious?” I mutter, feeling my face go even redder.

 

“Yeah, kinda,” she says, smiling. “Come on, I’ll get back in. Just don’t touch the stupid band, I don’t want to get electrocuted.”

 

“Yes, dear,” I say, sneaking a peck on her cheek, one she returns with another of her own.

 

“Love you, Theo,” she says. “Always and forever, you know that, right?”

 

“Of course,” I say, giving her another kiss on the cheek as I step into the shower, turning the tap on and making sure that all of the cold’s run out of the tap before I switch the water to the shower, and I swear, if my nose isn’t bleeding by now, it’s going to start running soon.

 

“Do you want me to join you?” she asks me, smiling. “I wouldn’t mind….”

 

“Oh, I don’t want you to have to dry off again,” I say. “If you don’t mind getting wet again, then, well, I don’t think that either of us are going to have to worry about that, and let’s go for it.”

 

“Deal,” she says, dropping the towel from around her and stepping into the shower with me.

 

“Um…” she says, pausing for a second, and then I see the look on her face. “Um…,” she repeats, “My nose isn’t dripping any blood, is it?”

 

“No, it’s not,” I say, laughing lightly. “I’ve been wondering the same thing, actually. Have you- um, were you staring at me? You know-?”

 

“Were _you_?” she asks as the water soaks through my fur, and I nod, thankful that these bands around our ankles, whatever the flock they are, seem to be waterproof.

 

“Are you the most beautiful mammal that I’ve ever seen? Yes, you are, so yes, I was. Let me guess, you think I’m the dumbest fox ever, but you think I’m ravishingly handsome, right?”

 

“Well, yeah,” Jenna says, smiling and catching my lips in a kiss, “of course I do, which is why I hope my nose isn’t dripping any blood. How do you even know about that, anyways? I thought you said you knew nothing about human culture, how would you know about bloody noses?”

 

“Way too much free time,” I say, putting a paw behind my ears.

 

“You like dirty fanfiction, don’t you? That’s got to be it…”

 

“What, no!” I say. “No, I was bored and found myself on EweTube, and I found myself watching anime…”

 

“Which one?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know, Sailor Mew maybe? Why does it matter?” I ask. “I just remember a lot of bloody noses, and then my embarrassment when I looked up what that meant. I’m going to say that _you_ were the one reading dirty fanfiction, otherwise how would you know?”

 

“A girl has to have her secrets,” she says, folding her arms across her chest, where they sit on top of the slight swell of her belly.

 

“Yeah, like what you’re going to name the kits.”

 

“Well, I was hoping that you’d be able to help me figure that out, but you’ll have to be there for me.”

 

“You’re not due for what, another six and a half months? I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to be back for at least a year, hon…” I say, feeling a whine slip my throat, and a second later, the press of Jenna’s tongue on my left cheek and her paws on my shoulders, rubbing all of the tension out of me, and I feel my legs go to jelly.

 

“I need to sit down, Jenna,” I say, reaching over to flip the faucet to the tub spout, and I plug the drain, collapsing to my haunches on the bottom of the tub.

 

“Do you mind if I sit behind you, Theo?” Jenna asks, giving the tuft of fur on the top of my head a lick. _Damn, she’s feeling awfully flirty today. Of course, not that I mind…_

 

“You’re the vixen, you’re in charge,” I say, smiling as she sits behind me, twisting my tail between her fingers and running her fingers through it, which sends waves of pleasure reeling through me, but thankful, no reaction.

 

“That I am,” she says, nipping at my ear and then taking one of my paws and placing it on her stomach. “Look, Theo,” she says, suddenly serious, “I’m sorry for being such a jerk…”

 

“And I’m sorry for being an ass that got us all placed under house arrest, Jenna. I’m shocked we haven’t been shocked, quite honestly…”

 

“Not the end of the world. That’s coming soon enough, if I had to guess. I was looking out the window this morning, and that _thing_ up in the sky, whatever the hell it is, it hasn’t gone away yet, so whatever’s going to come through it’s waiting for something. What that _something_ is, though, I don’t know, and I don’t really want to know if I want to know.

 

Whether I want to know or whether I don’t want to know, though, I get the feeling that I’m going to find out soon enough anyways.

 

As the tub fills, the hot water starts to fog up the air in the shower until it’s like we’re sitting in a bank of clouds.

 

“So, Jenna, I have a random question-” I ask, nibbling on the edge of her right ear- that one’s tastier than the left- when should we make it official? And who takes whose name?”

 

“Like I was saying earlier, how about we ask Mama or Papa after we get out of here? We’d have to get the priest to come here, neither of us can leave. As for names? Combine them, maybe? Jenna Aspen-Neve and Theo Neve-Aspen, how’s that?”

 

“Perfect,” she says, taking her ear out of my mouth and turning around to nibble on mine. “You know, we should probably get out of the tub… and yet, I really don’t want to…”

 

“Good thing it’s still early.” I say, but then, a split second later, I hear a soft knock on the door. _Scat…_

 

“Who is it?” Jenna asks, jumping up in surprise.

 

“Who do you think it is?” comes Alaina’s voice from the other side of the door. “I hope you guys didn’t use all of the hot water. You’d better not have used all of the hot water…”

 

“Yeah, or we’ll be in it, right?” Jenna says, getting out of the tub.

 

“Or maybe we want to do the same thing that you two were, hmm?” comes Isaac’s voice from the other side of the door, his voice dripping with so much snark that it makes me laugh. It doesn’t seem like him to be like that, but heck, that’s why I’m laughing.

 

“What’s so funny?” he asks, tapping on the door again.

 

“Honestly, I have no idea, I just do,” I say, trying and failing to stop, which just makes me laugh even more.

 

“Are you guys going to get out of the bathroom anytime soon?” Isaac asks, and I can hear the frustrated swishing of his tail behind him. “I’m kinda smelly, I see Mama holding her nose out here, and if she can smell it…”

 

“Yeah, it’s bad,” Alaina says. “I know you can’t see through the door or anything, Theo, but I’m pinching my nose about as tightly as I can, and well… he still stinks.”

 

“Yeah, pick on your mate, why don’t you?” Alaina says, a statement which both takes me by surprise, and yet, at the same time, it doesn’t.

 

“How wonderful for both of you,” Jenna says, giving words to my thoughts before I get the chance to. _Looks like there’s going to be two families losing fathers coming up soon._

 

 _Damn it, Theo, shut the fuck up,_ I curse inwardly. _Okay, deep breath, and_ **_relax_ ** _, mammal,_ **_relax_ ** _. If there’s anything that being in this stupid situation should have taught me, it’s that I should be able to roll with the punches._

 

_Then again, though, there are still huge bruises on each side of my muzzle where Mister Marlboro’s boots got the best of me. I don’t know how well I managed to roll with those punches rather than drag myself along the floor away from them._

 

“Alrighty then,” I say, sneaking another peck on Jenna’s cheek and watching a blush grow under her fur as I wrap a towel around myself (no one’s going to want to see that… well, maybe Jenna, but anyways…) and dash out of the bathroom, or at least I try to. _Gotta open the door first...ow…_

 

 _“Foolish fox…”_ I mumble as I rub my head, but this time, my words don’t have any venom behind them.

 

“You all okay there, Theo?” Jenna says, coming over to where I’m sitting on the toilet rubbing my head. “That looks like it hurt…”

 

“Eh, I’m okay,” I say. “I’m a fox, so my head’s full of air anyways. No brain to rattle and bounce means you don’t have to worry,” I say, plastering my best cheeky grin on my face. “But you love that, don’t you?”

 

“Do I know that?” Jenna asks, smiling as she opens the door to the bathroom to let the other fox-wolf couple in this house have some fun of their own. “Why are you even asking? Yes, yes, I do, now come on, let’s go get dressed, hmm? Or did you have other plans?”

 

 _I wonder if it’s just the hormones talking that’s making her like this..._ I think as we head upstairs to my room. Jenna’s been sleeping with me (not always in _that_ sense) for the last I don’t even remember how long, so it doesn’t surprise me. What _does_ surprise me is that, as soon as we’re upstairs and the door is closed, Jenna drops the towel from around her waist, and I can feel my face light bright red.

 

“J-Jenna,” I stammer, fighting my own reaction (and succeeding, thank the Celestials above), “what are you doing? I-I-”

 

“Calm down, Theo,” she says, sitting on my bed and putting a paw on my shoulder. “Deep breath, okay?”

 

“Yes, dear,” I say, fake frowning at her, and she gives me a soft chuck on the shoulder.

 

“Ow, Jenna,” I mutter in fake pain, “and here I thought that Terran foxes were supposed to be weaklings…”

 

“Most of them, I guess, but you’re forgetting something- I grew up on Earth, so the ‘weak Terran fox’ stereotype doesn’t apply, _nyeh!_ ” she says, sticking her tongue out at me, and then she catches where I’m looking, and she smiles, taking my paw and placing it on her stomach, and it’s then that I feel a kick, and I can’t help but smile as Jenna takes the opportunity to lick the end of my nose (no sneezing involved this time, thank goodness).

 

“You’re going to be such a great dad, you know that, right, Theo?” Jenna asks me, smiling, and I fight my best smile onto my face despite my anxiety. “Are we going to be great parents? Yes we are, Jenna,” I say, sighing and smiling more honestly this time, “yes we are.”

 

“I’m glad you’re willing to think positively, Theo,” Jenna says. “Another few more months of waiting, and well… I can’t wait, to be entirely honest, and yet, well… I don’t know if I’m going to be able to. You know, Jenna,” I say, “let’s do it tomorrow. We won’t have the rings or the dress for you or a tux for me or… or… or anything,” I say, tripping over my thoughts, “but I don’t care, I want to make it official, and as soon as possible, but how…?”

 

“You know,” Mama says from right outside the door, “we can just get a justice of the peace over here and have them do it, we don’t need a judge…”

 

“Get a woman, please,” Jenna says, and I echo. “Please, we don’t need to be chased by that madman _again_. Of course, it’s going to happen, but, well, you get what I mean, right, Mama?” she asks.

 

“Of course,” Mama says, the edges of her voice tinged with a worry that I can tell that she’s trying to hide. I know that she feels like she has to be the strongest person out of all of us, but I can tell that that outward image that she’s putting on is taking a toll on her. I’d have to be a fool not to see the bags under her eyes or that she’s been wearing the same set of clothes for the last half a week or that her hands are shaking, from fear, from sleep deprivation, from all of the above, probably.

 

“For when?” Mama asks, and, since I’m brushing out my fur (a note- wet fur under clothes will never dry), Jenna answers.

 

“As soon as possible, Mrs. Maranza,” she says. “If you can, of course… I don’t know who would want to marry two foxes, what with a war going on…. I’m pretty sure that most people would rather stay inside their cozy little homes where they know they’re safe and sound and dry than come out into the weather, and besides, hello, we’re not human, and as far as most of them figure, it’s our kind that’s making this mess. Of course, it’s not going to matter that neither of us have anything to to with the invasion, but, hell, you know, once the stereotype’s there in people’s minds, it’s not going to go away just by us telling them that we’re harmless.”

 

“I know someone, actually,” Papa says. “Elena, do you remember the person who married us? Do you think they’re still around?”

 

“Well, they were about our age, so probably. Do you have any idea where they live?”

“Thankfully enough, just about a twenty minute drive away. I gave them a call a while ago to ask if they’d be willing to come out in this sort of weather. What do you think they said?”

 

“Hopefully,” I say, drying my tail and getting dressed, “they said yes. Does that sound about right? They weren’t too afraid to come out?”

 

“No they weren’t, and yes,” Mama says, “they said yes, they’ll be here in about two hours. I have sharp ears too, you know, I may be old-ish, but I’m sure as hell not deaf yet, I could hear you two through the door. Hurry up and get dressed, and brush your teeth, Theo,” she says. “When was the last time you actually cleaned them?”

 

“Great question, Mama,” I say“You want me to be honest? I have no idea. Two weeks ago? I’d better take care of that now,” I mutter, doing as I’m told and getting dressed, too. As soon as Jenna’s dressed as well, we dive out of the bathroom and out of the way as quickly as we can so that Isaac and Alaina don’t run us over as they fly through the door, the lock clicking shut behind them.

 

“Well, that was sure interesting,” Mama mutters as we make our way back to my room. As soon as we manage that, Mama brings a blush to both of our faces by insisting that she brush out our fur for us (but of course, she leaves our tails for each other. For foxes and wolves, at the very least, there are only two people who get to touch our tails- ourselves, of course, and our mates. That’s another line you don’t cross with a fox, unless, of course, you really _want_ to get snapped at by an angry fox. If you don’t, good, you’re smart.

 

If not, well, I’m going to wonder if you need your head checked, I figure I probably do.

 

On a better topic, I’d probably better get ready… I’m feeling strangely at peace (yay, for once!), and I can’t wait...

 

_If anyone sees the grin on my face right now, they’ll probably think I’m nuts, but hell, I don’t care. Funny thing is, I’m starting to wonder when something’s going to do wrong._

 

_Please, universes, let me be, hmm? I need some time to relax._

 

“Um, Theo, you might want to see this,” Alaina says, coming in behind us with a newspaper in paw. Aside from the fact that I’m shocked that actual paper newspapers still exist here on Earth, the fact that she’s waving the newspaper like she is doesn’t bode well.

 

“Yeah, Alaina,” I ask, “what is it?”

 

“Here, take it and see for yourself,” she says, and I do. Holding the newspaper in my paws, I can see the headline, and yep, it’s not good.

 

“Battles Intensify,  “ New Attacks Across The Globe,” the headline blares. “Earth Begins Full Return Assault To Ready Itself For Full War !”

 

“Frick…,” I hear Jenna mutter.

 

“Flock…,” I say under my breath.

 

“Fuck…,” both of us say together.

 

“Well,” I say, “we’re screwed.”

 

“Eh, not yet we’re not,” I say. “But we’re sure close.”

  



	12. Chapter Twelve: Oranges and Lemons

Chapter Twelve: Oranges and Lemons

 

“Now what? Why can’t anything go right for us?” Tony asks, twisting his whiskers between his fingers again. “Why am I not surprised that everything’s all fucked up, and why can’t this world make a little sense to us for once, hmm?”

 

“Great question, Tony,” Alaina says, patting him on the back, “but um, none of us have any idea either…”

 

“For whatever reason,” Tony says, “I’m almost wishing that, well, I really don’t know what I’m wishing. I don’t want anything to get worse, like I’m sure that it’s probably going to, but I almost wish it would so the suspense would go away, you know? I’m sick of not knowing what’s going to happen, you?”

 

“Completely,” Isaac says, and I hear him start to growl before Alaina puts an arm around his neck and draws him in for a hug.

 

“It’s okay, dear,” she says, licking his cheek. “We’ll be fine, just relax…”

 

“I’m trying, Alaina, I’m trying…,” Isaac says, frowning. “Hey, I know, how about a story?”

 

“What kind of story?” Tony asks, and then when Isaac looks at him, he gulps. “Wh-what? You mean me? What story?”

 

“Believe me, Tony,” Mama says, “I’m sure that they’re not trying to be nosy…”

 

“Oh, I know, I-I…,” he sighs, “It just caught me by surprise Why do  _ I  _ matter? I’m just the local gay cheetah, what makes me important?”

 

“Oh, maybe it’s just that we want to help and know, well, well and truly nothing about you. You mind sharing just a little bit, hm?”

 

“Uh-,” he starts to say, then he plants his head in his paws. “Gah, I’m such a screwball, maybe that’s it, yeah, that seems about right, huh? I’ve always been a little loopy. Hell, I think it’s kinda hard to stay sane in this world.”

 

“You’re not kidding, Tony,” I say, “which is why we want to help,  _ that’s _ why we’re asking for your story, okay? We just want to help.”

 

“Fine, fine,” Tony says, taking a seat. “But I need to get ready for later, the priest or whoever’s going to be here in about an hour or so, so I heard. I think I could tell you, so let me get dressed and, well, why don’t all of you do the same and we can talk after, seeing as most of us are just wearing towels… yeah, I’ll be back in a bit, I need to take a shower, too.”

 

“Okay then,” Jenna says as Tony leaves the room, closely followed by Isaac and Alaina.

 

“So what are we going to wear?” I ask, waving a paw at our dressers. “I don’t have a suit, and do you have any dresses?”

 

“No, I’ve never been one to wear them,” Jenna says. “But skirts on the other paw, that’s a different deal entirely,” she says, picking one out of her dresser. “Do you think this looks nice, Theo?” she asks, holding it out in front of her- it’s a light blue with several small little red flowers sewn around the edges- I think they’re roses.

 

“It looks wonderful, Jenna,” I say, giving her a kiss on the end of her nose and watching her smile.  “I think you look beautiful no matter what you’re going to be wearing, you know.”

 

“Sappy fox…,” Jenna says, smiling as she gets dressed.

 

“You know you love me,” I say, smiling back. “Isn’t that the best part?”

 

“The fact that you’re a screwball?” Jenna says as I take my turn getting dressed. I don’t have a suit, but I have a decent button-down shirt and slacks.

 

“Yeah, that’s exactly it,” I say, making sure to brush out my headfur and make it look as neat and tidy as possible. Thankfully, it behaves, and I manage to get it flattened out with enough time to spare to get dressed before Mama barges in through the door.

 

“Are you two ready yet?” Mama asks, her hair in the neatest bun that I’ve ever seen it in, which, given how naturally curly it is means nothing, really. It’s still a mess, but then again, I’m not one to speak about the state of one’s hair, or at least I shouldn’t be, I mean, I’m covered in the stuff and it’s usually a frizzy mess. In fact, today’s the first day in the longest time that I’ve actually managed to get my fur into some semblance of cleanliness.

 

“Almost, Mama,” I say, brushing out the last puff of fur on my tail, or, at least,  _ trying _ to comb it out (and of course, failing miserably).

 

“Here, Theo,” Jenna says, taking a brush in paw. “May I brush your tail?”

 

“O-Of course, Jenna,” I say, stuttering for some reason and hating it. “As long as I get to do the same thing for you…”

 

“Of course, Theo,” she says, handing me her brush and picking another one out of her dresser. “Here, sit down on the bed with me.”

 

I do as I’m told, and sit down on my bed, offering my tail for Jenna to take and taking hers as she does the same for me.

 

_ This is it, _ I think.  _ We’re doing this- I remember that my mom told me once, before she completely lost it, that the last thing foxes do before they get married? Exactly what I’m doing now, and I can see the look of joy, and well, bliss on Jenna’s face, and I imagine that I have the same sort of look going for me, ‘cause I’m feeling just about as happy as it’s possible to be right about now. The strokes that Jenna’s pulling through my tail, well, let’s just say that I’m in heaven right now. _

 

_ I am one happy fox… _

 

_ Oh, yeah, that feels good… I hope I’m not drooling… _

 

_ That would just be embarrassing… _

 

_ Of course, what else would be new, me making an absolute fool out of myself? Yeah, no, that wouldn’t be new. Damn this shit, I need to get out of my head, it’s cold and cynical in here. _

 

_ Back to the previously scheduled programming… Oh, I’m in heaven right now, and I think Jenna is too. Hey, this is the only way foxes really get to make out, so, yeah, we’ll be at this until we absolutely have to stop, or, well, until we get blown up. _

 

_ Damn it. _

 

“You alright there, Theo?” Jenna asks. “You seem worried about something, everything okay?”

 

“Huh?” I say, Jenna’s question snapping me out of my thoughts. “What was that, Jenna?”

 

“What I was asking was if everything was okay. You okay, Theo?”

 

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine, Jenna,” I say, slapping my muzzle to try and clear my head. “Stressed, that’s all.”

 

“Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re alright, dear,” she says, kissing me on the cheek.

 

“Me too,” I say, earning myself a chuck on the arm from Jenna. “What?” I ask, head cocked and ears perked, and I can’t help thinking that I probably look like a dog, and I get what Isaac means when he says that he  **hates** being called a ‘good boy.’

 

“Oh, nothing,” Jenna says, smiling. “Ready to go get married for reals this time?”

 

“For reals?” I ask. “Oh, yeah, you?”

 

“I’ve been waiting for a good long time for this, so, uh, yeah, duh!” Jenna says, smiling even more widely. “When’s the priest or whoever even supposed to be here, anyways?”

 

“You’re asking the wrong fox, dear,” I say, smiling at her. “You want me to be organized and  _ not  _ freak out over the sight of my own shadow? Ha, ha, ha, uh, no.”

 

“Look, I’m like that too, Theo,” Jenna says, hugging me. “I’ve just had to learn to hide it, and well, I’m not great at it. I’m probably even more of a worryfox than you are, you know?”

 

“No, Jenna,” I say, “I had no idea, why didn’t you say anything? We could share stories later, but now-”

 

_ Knock-knock! _

 

“Yeah?” I ask. “Who is it?”

 

“It’s Mama,” she says from the other side of the door. “Are you guys ready?”

 

“Of- mmph- course,” I say as Jenna kisses me. “Ready as I’ll ever be!”

 

“Good,” Mama says. “I got a call from the person who’s coming- No priest, but a justice of the peace instead, is that alright?”

 

“Mrs. Maranza, I’m an atheist, so yeah, it’s perfect for me,” Jenna says. “Theo, you?”

 

“Fine with me,” I say. “I’m not religious. No time to pray if I’m living under stairs at the town office building and more interested in not starving, but I’m getting off track, sorry, Mama,” I say.

 

“Alright then, sounds like we’re good here,” Mama says. “Are either of you ready? I want to take a few pictures before, well, you know…”

 

“Aw, geez, Mama,” I say, blushing so hard (I can see my reflection in the mirror) that the cream patches on my face blend in with the rest of my reddish fur, “do you mind? I’m already flustered enough…”

 

“Oh, you’ll be fine, Theo,” Jenna says, smoothing out her skirt and giving me another kiss on the end of the nose. “Come on, let’s go get married,” she smiles, taking my paw and leading me out of the bathroom.

 

A few minutes later finds us all- me, Alaina, Jenna, Isaac, Tony, Papa, Mrs. Neve, and a man dressed in a tan suit that I’m assuming is the justice or whoever was supposed to come over, and I give him a once-over as quickly as I can and hope that he doesn’t notice; even if he did, though, I don’t think he’d understand what I was doing- making sure that he wasn’t a certain Camel-puffing principal from some not-Earth place.

 

“So is everyone ready?” the man asks, and both of us nod, giving each other one enormous smile. “I have to say, I’ve never met anyone like any of you…”

 

“Yeah, no one has,” I say. “Are you okay with all of this, sir?” I ask, smiling and putting my paws in my pockets, hoping that I look clean and presentable, and that the man, whoever he is, doesn’t pay attention to our ankle monitors. With our luck, he’d probably take off in fear that we were going to kill him because we’re animals.

 

Damn, I hate that.

 

But then again though, it’s just what comes with being a fox these days, and especially one like me.

 

“I have no reason not to be,” he says, pulling a book out of the bag that he has slung over his shoulder and then dropping the bag. “I’m a dad myself, and my young man’s like you.”

 

“You mean he’s socially awkward and rather out of place all the time? That’s no way to talk about your own kid, sir,” I say.

 

“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant at all, ….? I’m sorry, I don’t know either of your names.”

 

“I’m Theo,” I say.

 

“And I’m Jenna,” Jenna says. “And you are?”

 

“Peter,” the man says. “Peter Falloway, nice to meet you. As I was saying, though, no, what I mean was that he’s a mammal like you- a wolf. I didn’t know that there were any more people like him here on Earth… I’ll have to tell him. Maybe you should come over sometime…”

 

“Um…” I say, putting a paw on the back of my neck in embarrassment as I lift up the cuff of my pant leg to show Mister Falloway the dark metal band that’s clasped around my ankle. “There’s no way that I’m leaving the house, sir. Long story, but if you want to hear it, I’ll try and boil it down. See, I got arrested about what was it, a month ago? for defending my mate- some cop tried to taze her, and well, you can probably guess.”

 

“I can, my son used to get into a little bit of trouble at school, that’s why we moved here. He got kicked out of his old school after they found out that he was dating one of his classmates.”

 

“And that was a problem why, exactly? My mate’s one of mine,” Alaina says, “and the same would go for Theo and Jenna here.”

 

“Oh, it was the whole ‘boy who was more than a friend’ deal,” you figure out the rest.”

 

“Would your son happen to be a wolf?” Alaina asks “And did you move from Wisconsin? Rhinelander?”

 

“Uh, yeah, actually, why?” Mister Falloway asks. “And how would you know? You’ve never been there, I take it, so how could you possibly know?”

 

“A, because you just said that he was a wolf, and b, could someone get Tony, please?” I say.

 

“Uh, yeah,” Isaac says. “You want me to stall?”

 

“Nah, just bring him out here as quickly as possible,’kay?”

 

“You got it!” Isaac says, dashing off to Tony’s room.

 

“What’s all this about?” Mister Falloway asks. “Who are you going to get?”

 

“Tony Felix- I think your son would know him as Anthony Jubatus?”

 

“Uh… yeah, how do you know him?”

 

“Because he’s right here,” Tony says, waving from the back of the room. “After I fled Rhinelander I jumped on the Amtrak and fled here as fast as I could go,” Tony says, twisting his whiskers nervously. “That was the night that my father beat my ass for ‘going to the gay side,’ as he put it before he shredded my back. That was the night that I was supposed to have a date. Tell your son I’m sorry that I never made it there…,” Tony says.

 

“Why don’t you tell him yourself?” Mister Falloway asks. “I have to go shopping later, what if you want to? Come along, that is.”

 

“Well, I would if I could, and I don’t know how I’d manage that, but first, let’s get things underway here, why don’t we?” I say. “We can’t leave, so…”

 

“Oh, right, duh…,” Mister Falloway says. “You know what, let’s get things going here, and then give me a little bit and I think my son would love to come over. How’s that sound?”

 

“Sounds good to me!” all of us say, smiling, save for Tony, who’s looking at the floor with a paw behind his ears and the reddest blush I’ve ever seen on his face.

 

“Um… won’t he hate me?” he asks.

 

“No, he’s missed you since,” Mister Falloway says. “If you don’t mind, can we get back on track here?”

 

“Yeah, not a problem,” Tony says. “Sorry for taking everyone’s time…”

 

“Tony, relax, man,” I say. “Believe you me, we want to hear what you have to say, it’s just that now’s not a good time, okay?”

 

“Okay,” he says, wringing his paws again. “Look, I  _ am  _ sorry, but let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

 

“Sounds good to me,” I say. “Where should we get set up?”

 

“Here’s fine,” I say. “Jenna, are you ready?”

 

“I am,” she says, taking my paw in hers and holding it closer to her chest. “I’m mostly worried about you, Theo, are  _ you _ ready?”

“As ready as it’s possible to be, so let’s get things going here, dear,” I say, leaning over to give her a kiss.

 

“Sounds good to me,” Theo,” Jenna says, smiling as she gives my paw a squeeze. “So are you ready to marry us, sir?” she asks. “I think that both of us are about as ready as we can be.”

 

“Do you have the rings?” Mister Falloway asks.

 

“I do, Mister Falloway,” Mama says, taking two small boxes out of the side table nearby and handing them to him. 

 

“How do these look?” he asks both of us, showing us that Mama picked out rings for us, of course, but how am I supposed to argue? There’s a red fox one that looks like it’s Jenna’s, and a silver one for me, and this is it, oh. My. God. And. Karma. I’m doing this!

 

“They’re wonderful,” both of us say at the same time. “Jinx!” both us laugh. 

 

“No, seriously,” I say, my tail flicking happily behind me, “they’re beautiful, thank you so much!”

 

“You’re welcome, both of you,” Mama says. “Now enough talking, let’s go!”

 

“Alright then,” Mister Falloway says, taking a book out of the jacket of his suit and opening it. “We are here today,” he begins, “to unite a couple in the bonds of matrimony, bonds that will but grow stronger over time. You are already mates, today we tell the world that you are husband and wife. From here on, do you promise to support one another, to have and to hold, through sickness and health?”

 

“I do,” we both say.

 

“For better or poorer, in sickness and in health?”

 

“I do,” we echo.

 

“Will you love and cherish one another, support each other, follow where the other goes, from this day forth and forever more?”

 

“I do!” we echo, nearly shouting it out. 

 

“Nothing’s going to part us, Theo,” Jenna says. “Nothing, I promise!”

 

“In that case,” Mister Falloway says, holding out the rings, “Theodore, Jenna, I pronounce you as such in the eyes of whoever watches, may God and Karma bless you both! You may kiss!”

 

And we do- for what feels like an eternity, but hell, I’m not complaining, I  _ like _ this kind of eternity.

 

When we finally break it off, both of us look at each other with enormous smiles and turn back to Mister Falloway, who hands us the rings.

 

“Jenna,” I say, feeling like a blush is rising in my cheeks, “when I first met you, well, I was the one who was supposed to be helping you, but you’ve helped me a lot more than I could’ve ever imagined. Thank you for turning the tables, dear, I love you,” I continue, taking the ring that I have in one paw and Jenna’s paw in the other, and sliding it on as I give her paw a kiss, because, you know, I’m a sappy fox.

 

“And you, Theo,” Jenna says, doing the same for me and making me blush, “you’re the fire that lights up my day every morning. I love you!”

 

“Love you too, Jenna,” I say, and we kiss again while the room breaks out into cheers from everyone and howls from the two wolves in the room.

 

The rest of the day flies right by- Mama made banana cream pie for afterwords, and yep, both of us are covered in it by the time we’re getting cleaned up for bed ten hours later.

 

Only one solution to that- lick it off with the other’s help, of course!

 

“That tickles, Jenna!” I say as she gets the last pie fleck off my nose with the tip of her tongue.

 

“Ah, deal with it, you screwball,” she says, giving me a playful chuck on the arm. “It’s late, let’s go to bed!”

 

“All covered in pie?”

 

“Well, no… race you!”

 

\--

 

The next morning finds us lying in bed together, but unlike anyone who saw us fly off to the bathroom together is probably thinking, nothing happened. All we did was kiss, I promise. That and clean the pie off of each other, I swear, and then we just crashed in bed and it still smells like wet fox in here.

 

I smell bacon, though, and I hear a voice out in the kitchen that I don’t recognize, and sounds like a guy.

 

“Hey Jenna?” I ask, nibbling on her ear to wake her up. “There’s bacon, if you want some…”

 

“Sounds -oof- good to me,” she says, getting up, and we both get out of bed and follow our noses, and yep, there’s bacon! There’s also a wolf in the kitchen that I don’t recognize, and both he and Tony are staring at each other with enormous blushes on their faces, and it’s then that I realize who the wolf must be: Mister Falloway’s son, which means he’s Tony’s former boyfriend.

 

This is gonna be awkward…

 

“Hey, Calvin,” Tony says, waving an awkward hello to the wolf. “Funny we run into each other like this, huh?”

 

“Yeah, a little,” the wolf, Calvin says, and I can see from the way his hackles are up a little that he’s kinda ticked off… “Where the heck did you even go, Tony? I swear, I thought for the longest time that you stood me up, I didn’t even know otherwise until less than a day ago… What are you even doing here?”

 

“I ran away, don’t you remember how much of a fucking bastard my father was? Like he probably still is?”

 

“Well, I don’t know about that, Tony, he’s been dead for the last year or so, ever since you ran away- his car got hit by a train just outside of Milwaukee.”

 

“Oh..,” Tony says. “I had no idea…”

 

“And you would’ve, had you stayed closer to me…”

 

“I’m sorry, Calvin,” Tony says, putting his head in his paws, and I can hear him start to sob, quietly at first but growing louder and louder as the seconds tick by.

 

“It’s alright, Tony, it’s okay,” Calvin says, getting out of his seat to sit on the ground by Tony, giving him a kiss on the cheek as he sits down. “I still love you, you know. Just because I’m angry towards you doesn’t mean that I hate you, Tony, okay?”

 

“I don’t believe you,” Tony says, head still in his paws. “I ran away from you and our date and I never told you where I was going… How could you still like me?”

 

“A, because I’m the kind of wolf who likes guys, b, because you’re a good person, c, because love never goes away, and yeah, I’m gonna sound sappy as hell, but damn it, it’s true!”

 

“Yeah, it’s true, you  _ do _ sound sappy as hell,” Tony says, wiping his tears away and looking Calvin in the eye with a sad smile on his face, the fur under his cheeks stained dark and wet from his tears.

 

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Calvin laughs. “I had no idea where you were…”

 

“Yeah, I know I missed our date, I’ll try and make it up to you,” Tony says, “just please don’t be mad at me, okay?”

 

“Geez, Anthony, I don’t know why you’d think that I’m mad at you when I just said that I wasn’t, okay? Make like Elsa and let. It. Go, yeah?” At that, Tony nods, sighing. “So how’s life been treating you for the last year? It’s been a while…”

 

“No kidding, and yeah, life’s been okay, but it hasn’t been the same, you know?”

 

“Yeah, I do…”

 

“I thought that you’d left me, but I got over it… life wasn’t great for a while, especially when I couldn’t find you anywhere, and then some assholes decided to run us out of town by torching our house. For some reason, Wisconsin law says that having animals for children is a liability, not an asset- in other words, we drove their taxes up, and one fucking shitton. They thought that they could get rid of us, and so we hopped the next train out of town and proved them right.

 

That was about a month later; we’ve been here since, and well, I haven’t been in school since. You?”

 

“I’ve been worrying about my friend here,” Tony says. “That, and volunteering to be arrested. It’s a long story, but hell, it was worth it.”

 

“Well,” Calvin says, smiling, “I’m glad we have a while then, so where to start?”

 

“Great question. Where should I start? How about the day I hopped the train?”

 

“Well, seeing as that’s where all of us come together,” I say, “that sounds like the perfect place.”

 

“Okay, so,” Tony begins, “anybody know what I’m talking about when I say I feel like there’s a sword hanging over my head that just won’t fucking go away?”

 

“Yeah, I do,” I say. “A sword of Damocles? That’s what I’ve heard it called, at least…”

 

“Exactly,” he says. “Exactly, and yeah, I’m just waiting for it to fall, I see those threads snapping. Funny enough thing is, though, I kind of want the darn thing to fall, end the trouble I’ve been dealing with. Now, that’s not to say that I’m, well, you know… I don’t want to die, but I’ve had some days when I’ve been wondering when the world’s just going to fall apart on me.

 

“Anyways, I think you already know my story, I’ve told it to everyone already. I’m just a gay cheetah whose father beat the shit out of him, nothing exciting about that. I’m not going to tell everyone the story for the third time, okay? I’m sick of it, and I’m embarrassed by it, okay?”

 

“Are you embarrassed of me?” Calvin asks, frowning. “Tony…”

 

“No, no, no, no, no, that’s not it at all!” Tony nearly shouts, waving his paws ‘no’ like crazy.

 

“So then what is it?” Calvin asks, crossing his arms and tapping his fingers silently on the wooden arm of his chair.

 

_ Wait a second, silently? Did he get-? Well, declawed? _

 

“What I’m trying to say, Calvin,” Tony begins, “is that I’m embarrassed of the story, how I ran away like a coward, okay? I’m ashamed of who I am, and what I mean by that, before you say anything,” he says, holding up a paw and catching Calvin’s look, “I mean that I’m a coward, ‘kay? I fucked up bad, and now I can’t leave this place until I get sent to die. How’s that sound, hmm?”

 

“Like you’re an anxious ball of fluff that needs to calm down, Anthony,” Calvin says, and before Tony has the chance to say anything, the brown wolf’s caught his lips in a kiss, and well, I don’t think Tony has any plans on coming up for air any time soon.

 

“Maybe we should try that for ourselves,” Jenna says, giving me a look that I can only, for lack of a better term, call, oh, I don’t know,  _ foxy _ ?

 

“What the heck,” I say, returning her grin and leaning in for a kiss of my own. “Why the heck no-  _ mmph!” _

 

_ Okay then! _

 

As we sit there in each other’s arms, I can’t help but hope that the world’s going to treat us better in the future.

 

I know that that’s foolish to hope for, though, but hell, what can you do?

 

Not much, really, except enjoy what time there is left, and before I know it, it’s bedtime, and for whatever reason, Mama’s dressed up in a nightgown, and she has a candle in one hand.

 

“What’s with the candle, Mama?” I ask, ears perked in curiosity.

 

“Just a candle to light you to bed,” Mama says. “I felt like it.”

 

“Sounds good to me,” I say, getting into bed and curling my arms around Jenna, who went to bed an hour ago. “Night, Mama,” I say. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

“Night, Theo,” Mama says, leaning over to give me a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you both in the morning.”

 

With that, I pass out, but for some reason, there’s a knot of fear in my stomach that has me tossing and turning all night, and in the morning, the banging of a boot at the front door tells me why I’m nervous- it’s a soldier, scat!

 

I can’t run, that would only make things worse. No, I’m probably going to need to go with him, and for some reason, my mind pulls up a line from an old rhyme that I remember from my kithood on Terra-

 

_ Here comes a chopper to chop of your head. _

 

I’m going to pray that that doesn’t come true, because I. Don’t. Want. To. Die! but hell, I’m not in charge of my life any more, and nope, I don’t like ‘dem apples,’ they’re lemons, and I don’t have any sugar that I can make lemonade with.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Be More Chill

Chapter Thirteen: Be More Chill

 

_ Okay, then, this is going to be interesting,  _ I think as I’m trying to fight the anxiety I feel from overwhelming my mind.  _ What could possibly go wrong now? _

 

_ A lot, that’s what, and well, life’s gonna get a hell of a lot worse real fast. _

 

_ But I’m just going to need to relax, try to do more than survive, and well, hope that I don’t find myself cowering in fear by the end of the next ten minutes or so. _

 

“Uh, Theo?” Jenna asks, cowering behind me, paws on my shoulders as her tail wraps around my legs in fear. “I- I- um…. I’m terrified, you?”

 

“Um, yep, I am,” I gulp, feeling my tail do the same thing to her legs. It’s a fox thing, or, rather, it’s a canid thing- we protect our mates, at all cost, and well, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s great, though, and well, it’s weird to say, at least in my mind, that I’m Jenna’s husband and that she’s my wife, yeah, that feels odd for a fox.

 

Anyways, I’m getting little ripples of fear through me, and I’m sure that I smell worried, too, because Jenna’s nose is twitching softly as she looks at me, ears flattening.

 

“You alright there, dear?” I ask as whoever’s at the door knocks once again.

 

“Just scared is all,” she says, and I open the door to find a soldier on the other side. Other than the quick start he gives at seeing a red fox answer the door, he looks unfazed as he hands me an envelope before saluting me. “Have a wonderful day, Sergeant,” he says, turning an about-face right on his heels and marching straight back to his car, where he jumps in, the door slamming shut behind him before I get the chance to say anything, maybe shout after him or something like that.

 

“What the hell was that?” Jenna asks, ears perked in question, “and why did he call you-?”

 

“Sergeant?” I interrupt. “Sorry,” I say, realizing my mistake. “I have no idea… but, well, you know, it’s probably a trap.”

 

“You know, you should count yourself lucky, being an officer means that you get to stay mostly off the front lines, now open that letter, it’s making me nervous.”

 

I do as she demands, ripping open the letter (which has a US Department of the Army insignia embossed on the front) and pulling out the folded sheet of cream paper inside, and I skim the letterhead: ‘Department of The Army: The Pentagon,’ and my stomach sinks.

 

So this is it, this is where we get sent off to die…

 

“What’s wrong, Theo?” Alaina asks, having come up next to me without me having noticed. How she did that, I don’t know, but she did.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I say, hoping that the beads of sweat on my forehead don’t show or sop my fur any more than I can tell that they already are.

 

“Bullshit, it’s not nothing,” Alaina says, and all of us look at her in shock.

 

“What?” she asks, grinning despite the fear I see in her eyes. “I’ve been practicing, can you tell?”

 

“Yeah,” Isaac laughs, “I can. Seriously, though, Alaina,” he says, growing serious and putting a paw on her shoulder, “what is it?”

 

“Welp,” Alaina says, smiling sadly at all of us, “we’re all in the same unit at least, Sergeant Neve.”

 

“Oh,  _ shit, _ ” Isaac whispers. “You mean those are…?”

 

“Our assignments for the Army or wherever the flock we’re going to be sent in another month. I guess the shit going on isn’t bad enough for us to go now; I’m just going to count my blessings there, really,” she says, hugging Isaac close to her, and, as she licks his cheek, she puts a protective paw on her stomach, which catches Calvin’s curious look, the brown wolf having stayed the night once again.

 

“Are you-?” he asks, ears perked in a way that I thought was just Isaac’s mannerism; I guess all wolves do it?

 

Anyways…

 

“Am I what, Calvin?” Alaina asks, copying Calvin’s cock-eared look and smiling. “Pregnant? Gee, don’t you know it’s not nice to ask a she-wolf those questions?” she teases, lifting her eyebrows at him. “Yes, I am, gee thanks for ruining the surprise…,” she says, pretending to pout and crossing her paws across her stomach. “I wonder what that means for springing the rest of the news to the parents, hmm? Especially since, well…”

 

“Yeah, we’re going off to war soon,” I say. “So what? It’s not like we’re going to die or anything, you know. It’s not like we’re going to go right to the front lines or anything, no, not at all.”

 

“Well, you’re right about that, at least, Theo,” Jenna says. “We’re all off the front lines- we’re all officers, and they stay off the field. Us women here are all going to be nurses, I guess, so I think I’ll be making a few calls while I have the chance. Damn, all this before breakfast, too…”

 

“Yeah, eat up,” Papa calls from the kitchen, and we follow along to where we find everyone- Mama, Papa, Mrs. Neve, Isaac, Alaina, Jenna, Tony, and Calvin- eating breakfast. Smells like hash and eggs; in other words, perfect temptation for a teenage fox, and, need I remind anyone, I  _ am _ one of those.

 

“Mind if I join you guys?” I ask, snagging myself a plate and glass out of the cupboard, pouring myself a glass of orange juice and balancing both in my paws, hoping my claws don’t dig the surface of the plate or any scat like that, now that would just be annoying and a pain in the tail, and, well, a hell of a lot more literal pain in the paw from the little pieces of glass that would be in my fingers.

 

Anyways, though…

 

“Of course you can join us!” Jenna says, patting the table right to the left of her, where I now notice that there’s an empty seat. “You know, dear husband, you’re your own worst enemy. Except when I’m mad at you, then  _ I’m  _ your worst enemy. Anyways, though, Theo, relax. We’re going to be fine. Grab a plate of hash and sit with us, hmm? How’s that sound?”

 

“Great, actually,” I say, shovelling a scoopful of hash out of the pan and plopping it onto my plate before I come back to the table and take my seat next to my mate, who places her arms around me, and I place my paw on the back of her neck, telling her in doing so that I’ll be there for her when she needs me.

 

“So how’s everyone doing?” Papa asks, squinting in the dusty morning light that’s streaming in through the kitchen windows. “I heard the news, everyone, I’ll come along and do what I can, if they’ll take me. I’m not that old yet.”

 

“I’ll come too,” Mama says. “And to think, all of this started just a few months ago… How has time flown by so quickly? It was August when we first met both of you, Theo, Jenna, and now look where we are. You’re our children, we’ll stand by both of you, whatever the cost.”

 

“Um, if it’s okay,” Tony says, looking up from where he and Calvin were kissing, “can we not talk about, well, you know… dying? Death? Can we just stay away from that topic for the next week, hrm? I have enough on my mind right about now. Okay?”

 

“Geez, relax,” Tony,” I say, smiling at him. “You’re going to be fine, I’m going to be fine, Mama and Papa are going to be fine, we’re  _ all _ going to be fine. Relax, yeah?”

 

“Fine, if you insist, Theo,” he says, smiling softly and letting out a long breath. “I’ll do my best.”

 

“You’d better,” I say, smiling at him, “because I’m having a hard enough time of that on my own. You know, Tony, most of us look up to you…”

 

“You look up to me?” Tony asks, putting a paw on his chest like he’s shocked, and I suppose he would be. “What? Why? What for?”

 

“Can’t you figure it out on your own, Tony?” Calvin asks. “You know, I feel the same way- you’ve always been able to keep cool when you’re under pressure, you’re smart, you’re of course handsome, but that’s just extra. Anyways, though, Tony, lemme see if I get it: you’ve been through a hell of a lot and just plain hell in general, and oh, one last thing. You fought and won, okay? You’re alive, that’s a lot more than I think most people can say. Most people just exist, I’d have to say that you’re doing a hell of a lot more than that.”

 

“Calvin,” Tony laughs, putting a paw on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “this isn’t living, it  _ is _ just existing.”

 

“Dude, relax, okay? You’re on Earth. Here, you have to do  _ more _ than survive, not less than survive. Does that make any lick of sense, or is it just me?”

 

“No, it makes perfect sense,” Tony says, putting a paw to his forehead and sighing. “And every time I open my mouth, I do this, don’t I? I drag all of the life out of everything, sorry, I’ll leave now.”

 

“No, Tony, you won’t,” Calvin says, taking his boyfriend’s paw and directing him back to his seat. “There’s nothing wrong with you, now,” he says, giving Tony’s cheek so hard of a slap that I can hear it, and Tony jumps back in shock, yowling in shock and pain, staring at Calvin with a look of pain and anger and a heck of a lot of betrayal.

 

“What the fucking hell was that for, Calvin?” Tony asks, rubbing his cheek. “I didn’t do anything, dear heart.”

 

“I’ve been here less than a week, Tony, and I haven’t heard you be happy once, okay? Well, except for when we were kissing. How about we get back to that, hmm?”

 

“But-,” Tony begins, but Calvin doesn’t give him any chance to answer as he catches Tony’s lips in another kiss.

 

“That better?” he asks.

 

“Yeah, it is,” Tony says, getting up to get his own plate of breakfast. “Is there any coffee ready? I really need a cup, I’m half asleep here. Kisses help, but coffee helps cats a little too.”

 

“Do you mind getting me a cup too, Tony?” Calvin asks.

 

“No, dear, I won’t,” Tony says. “Have you ever had coffee?”

 

“No, I haven’t, I just wanted to try it.”

 

“Unless you want your heart to explode, silly wolf, I’m not giving you a cup. How’s tea instead?”

 

“Do you have mint tea? That’s my favorite kind.”

 

“No way, me too!” Isaac says. “And I think, if I remember right, Theo, you like mint tea as well?”

 

“Yeah, I do, Isaac,” I say. “Mint is good for foxes, like it’s good for cats. Maybe it has something to do that basically we’re a species that’s like cats and dogs crossed, but anyways, to answer your question, yeah, mint tea’s my favorite kind, why’dja ask?”

 

“Well,” Tony says, interjecting, “I don’t know if you heard, but I’m going to make a pot of tea. You alright there, Theo?” he asks.

 

“Huh?” I say. “Yeah, I’m fine, sorry, I was just up all night worrying about something, and then this morning, and … yeah, it’s been a weird life. At least I’m still alive…”

 

“That’s a plus,” Mrs. Neve says, making herself heard for the first time all morning. “You know, there are worse things to be, you know, like _ dead _ . So, Alaina, when are you and my son getting married, hmm? I know what I heard a while ago, so don’t brush it off.”

 

At his mom’s words, Isaac’s face lights up as red as red can be, and he drops his head into his paws, groaning. “Gah,  _ Mo-ooom! You’re so embarrassing!” _

 

“That’s a mother’s job, dear, and besides, that means I’m going to have more grandkits, aren’t I?”

 

“Oh, probably,” Alaina says, her face an even more brightly crimson mirror of Isaac’s. “If I don’t die. That would probably ruin plans, you know?”

 

“Oh, I do, I do,” Mrs. Neve says, her earrings (silver hoops with little diamond pendants inside) glinting in the sun. “Believe me, future daughter-in-law, I know, and that’s exactly why I order you all not to freaking die on me, on all of us, okay?” she says, her voice cracking, and I can tell that she’s near tears.

 

“Mom, are you okay?” Jenna asks, reaching across the table to stretch out a paw in help, and Mrs. Neve- Bianca, like she asked me to call her and I keep forgetting to- takes it.

 

“Group hug!” I shout, and all of us (Mama and Papa of course included) huddle around where Mrs. Neve is sitting at the table, and we give her the biggest hug we can, and she squeezes us all right back.

 

“Thank you, guys, she whispers. “Thank you, I needed this.”

 

“Sounds like everyone’s a bundle of nerves today,” Mama says, smiling at Alaina and I. “Seriously, everyone, relax, okay?”

 

“Yes, Ma’am!” I say, giving her a mock salute as I nearly shout. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so loud, everyone… foolish fox…”

 

“That you are, Theo,” Jenna says, “but that’s just one of the countless reasons I love you, you know. You  _ do _ know that, right?”

 

“Know what?” I ask, sticking my tongue out at her. “That you’re a pain in the tail but I’m an even bigger one? Yes, yes I did know that, I also know that I have some serious anxiety issues, and that they drive me nuts. That’s just the put-upon part of me talking, though, feel free and ignore that, it doesn’t matter.”

 

“You know, Theo, my son,” Papa says, twisting one of the ends of his mustache in between two fingers, “I’m pretty sure that  _ that’s  _ the anxiety talking, not what you said before. Mama, do you mind if we take a minute away from the table?”

 

“Not a problem, dear, is everything okay?”

 

“Yes, everything’s fine, dear, don’t you worry. Theo and I are just going to take a minute away from the table, like I said, and then we’ll be right back. How’s that sound?”

 

“Fine with me,” Mama says. “Just be back soon, dear, okay?”

 

“Of course, Elena,” Papa says, then he turns to me and reaches out a hand for me to take, which I do, and then he leads me away from the table.

 

“Where are we going, Papa?” I ask him.

 

“You’ll see soon enough,” he says as we go outside, the cold nipping at my skin a little bit.

 

“So, Theo,” he says a few minutes later once we’ve reached where we’re going- out to the bench in the garden, near all the old bee boxes, “what’s wrong?”

 

“A fucking shitton,” I say, not caring that I’m cursing. “I have a question for you, Papa, and I need an answer- what’s wrong with me? I feel like there’s a hell of a lot wrong with me these days, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out what that is, it’s just been gnawing away at my insides.”

 

“Well, Theo,” he says, stroking my ears, which gets an involuntary purr out of me, “there’s nothing wrong with you, I promise.”

 

“You promise,” I say, hoping the skepticism I feel isn’t too present in my voice. “Then why can’t I calm down and get out of my head?”

 

“It’s called anxiety, Theo,” Papa says. “We all feel it, it’s just that some get that feeling worse than others do. That’s anxiety, you know, feeling worried all the time, and you don’t know why. I can tell, Theo, that you’ve felt the same way for while, haven’t you?”

 

“Yeah, Papa,” I say, sighing and hearing my breath whistle as I let it out, “yeah, I have. You know, my first day of school here was hell, and I was always getting stepped on- my tail still hasn’t forgiven me for letting it get stepped on, by the way- but that’s beside the point. Anyways, my first day at school, one of my teachers, I can’t even remember her name, she asked me to hang back after class, and that freaked me out. Lucky for me, I wasn’t in any trouble, but I could have sworn that I was, and the ‘crash course’ in human culture that she game me, per se, just made me feel a heck of a lot worse about myself. Being a fox helps nothing, by the way, just in case you were wondering…

 

“Gah,” I say, hating that I’m crying again, “I’m such a screwup, a colossal screwup freak of a fox…”

 

“Theo, come here,” Papa says, holding out his arms in a wide embrace, and I curl up into his lap where he’s sitting on the bed, hating that I’m crying but unable to stop the tears from dripping out of my eyes.

 

“What did I do now, Papa?” I ask, sniffling.

 

“Just hush, Theo, just hush now, okay?” Papa tells me, stroking my ears, and I feel another purr rising up from my throat. “You’re okay, you’re safe here, you’re going to be fine, my kit, relax.”

 

“You didn’t answer me, Papa,” I say, wiping away the tears that are still on my face and wetting the fur under my eyes. For some reason that I can’t explain, I’m hugging my tail, which I’m probably going to need to wash all the snot and salt water out of. Great, just great.

 

“Here, Theo,” Papa says, handing me a towel from off of the floor, “use this, okay? Your tail’s been through enough already, I’m sure.”

 

“Okay, Papa,” I say, wrapping my arms around Papa and giving him an enormous hug and trying to make sure that my claws are drawn back in as far as they can go. I haven’t filed them in forever, I’m sure that they’d probably draw blood.

 

“Breathe, Theo,” he says, patting me on the back, and then shocking me by planting a soft kiss on my cheek. “So how can I help?”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean, Papa?” I ask.

 

“How can I help, Theodore?” he asks. “You know, I’ve known you for what feels like feels like forever, but there’s a lot that I don’t know about you. You’re as anxious as hell, but I can’t imagine that you were born like this, so what’s the deal?”

 

“Well, that’s a secret, Papa,” I say, feeling ashamed to admit the truth.

 

“Theo, I trust you completely, I’m asking you to do the same for me, okay?”

 

“Alright, Papa,” I say, rubbing my eyes to clear the crap out of their corners. “You know, you want to know what my secret is, fine, full disclosure. You know my dad- my biological one, Matthew- he died fighting for Terra. It just so happened that he and I had fought earlier that week, while he was on leave, two weeks before he was going to retire from the army for good. I can’t even remember what we were arguing about, it was that petty and unimportant, but I remember that I was really angry about it. I told my father that if we couldn’t see eye to eye on the little things, then we’d never see eye to eye on the bigger things, either, and I told him that, you know what, dad, why don’t you just never come back. And then he never did, at least, not as a fox, just as ashes in a ceramic urn. Life went downhill fast from there, and well, here we are, years and years later, and here I am, anxious all the fucking time and driving myself nuts. I’m a fox, though, not a squirrel, I shouldn’t be nuts.”

 

“Like I said, Theo, it’ll all pass. You’ll be fine, I promise. Now dry your eyes, and have another hug, hmm?”

 

“Sounds good to me, Papa,” I say. “I’m trying to be a good fox, a good kit, a good kid, you know?”

 

“I do know, Papa, thank you,” I say. “Thank you for being willing to deal with me, Papa, I love to Terra and back.”

 

“I love to to the ends of the Universes and back, Theo, now go back out there and join the rest of your family, I think your mate’s waiting for you.”

 

“Alright, Papa,” I say, doing as I’m told and smiling at the thought of being able to sit and eat breakfast with everyone and being able to sit with Jenna and everyone.

 

That idea doesn’t go according to plan, though, because Jenna’s standing right outside our bedroom door as I open it, and I can feel my face start to flush red.

 

“Um…,” I stammer, “how much of that did you hear, Jenna?”

 

“Pretty much all of it, Theo,” she says, paying me the same favor that Papa did and wrapping me in an enormous hug. “Now come on, join us for breakfast, we’ve all been waiting for you and we’re kinda hungry; I’d imagine you are too, huh?”

 

“Yeah, I am, Jenna,” I say. “Sorry for the detour, now smack me please.”

 

“What?” Jenna asks, taken aback. “Did you-?”

 

“Did I just ask you to smack me? Yeah, yeah I did, so are you going to do it or not? I swear I’m still half asleep, and I kinda want to wake up. Kinda hard to eat breakfast if you’re sleeping in it, I think.”

 

“If you insist…”

 

“I do.”

 

“Fine then,” Jenna says, rearing back a paw and smacking me across the face, sending stars shooting across my vision. “How’s that?”

 

“Great, actually,” I say, fighting the pain and then realizing that I shouldn’t be, that I need to realize that it hurts, and oh, flock yeah, it  _ hurts! _ I know that Jenna doesn’t mean to hurt me, but I think that I deserve it sometimes. Self-loathing fox is self-loathing, after all.

 

Anyways, though…

 

“You know, Theo,” Jenna says, wincing at the expression of pain on my snout, “what I don't understand is why you would want me to hurt you… that hurts me a lot more than you think…”

 

“It hurts me just as much, Jenna,” I say, rubbing my face. “And before you say anything, say that I’m being weird, sometimes, Jenna, we all just need a good ol’ hard slap to the side of the face to remind us that the big, bad ol’ world isn’t nearly as big and as bad as we think. Now let’s eat, hmm?” I say, leaving everyone looking at us like we’re crazy, which I suppose we probably are. Anyways, though, I’m hungry, and I want to eat my breakfast, no matter what anyone thinks of us.

 

“I suppose it’s a good thing that we’re all going to be nurses,” Alaina says, putting two paws over her stomach, and that reminds me that I’m going to be Uncle Theo eventually, if we manage to get that far.

 

“No kidding,” Jenna says, smirking at me. “Especially since the two boys decided to go and get both of us pregnant… gee, tanks, Theo,” she says, making me smile at how silly she is, how beautiful, how… perfect, for lack of a better term. No, scratch that, I don’t need a better term, that one word is enough for the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, and she just so happens to love me back.

 

Sappy fox Theo, check, anxious Theo, also check, but you know what? That anxious side of me can fucking stuff it, as far as I’m concerned.

 

I need some time to unwind, and what would really be great is if I could go outside to do that, but the heavy weight of the ankle monitor around my left foot reminds me that I can’t do that unless I want to get my ass arrested yet another time.

 

You know what I could stand, though, is a furcut, I haven’t had one in forever, and my winter coat’s finally coming in even though it’s nearly the end of January, normally the time when it would start to fall out, and I know just the silver-furred fox that I’m going to ask to help me out. I’ve seen her trim her own fur, and I think that she’ll know how to take care of mine. Maybe I’d be able to help her with her own fur eventually, and oh, shit, now the thoughts that are going through my head are definitely  _ not _ clean, shit shit shit shit shit, I hope nothing happens to me…

 

Thankfully, I get lucky again (and  _ not _ like that), and nothing happens, no tent anywhere.

 

“Hey, Jenna?” I ask her a few minutes later when we’re all away from the table and after everything that needs to be cleaned up has been cleaned up, “do you want my help with a furcut? I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve had one, and I wanted to know if you wanted one.”

 

“Is that your way of asking if I’ll help you cut your fur, Theo?” Jenna asks, and I nod, smiling sheepishly (no pun to be found there, once again), feeling a blush light my cheeks as a paw flies to the back of my ears, but this time, I don’t care that I’m embarrassed. I don’t care anymore, and I’m going to do my dam hardest to convince myself that I’m not lying.

 

“Yeah, it is…” I say as we head for the bathroom upstairs, and I feel Jenna’s tail brushing at the backs of my legs, tugging at them and tugging me closer to her. I oblige, and my own tail, which seems to have a mind of its own these days, wraps around the backs of her legs.

 

“Come on,” I say, taking her paw and leading her to the bathroom, where, after I root around in the cupboards and drawers for a little while, I find the pair of scissors that I’m looking for, old ones with a comb bit on the end of one of the blades- a pair of barber’s scissors.

 

“Ready, Jenna?” I ask her as I tug my shirt and pants off, but then I notice that she’s stopped and red, red, red in the face like I’ve never seen before.

 

“What?” I ask, ears perked and head cocked in question (I swear I’m not a dog). “Should I just take the rest off too, or, um, you good?”

 

“Eep!” Jenna says, putting her paws over the end of her muzzle, and for a split second, I’m afraid that I’ve spooked her, but then I see that her tail’s starting to flick back and forth behind her. “What, you like what you see?”

 

“Y-yes, I do,” she says, wiping her nose. “It isn’t bleeding, is it? My nose, that is?”

 

“No, you’re fine,” I say. “So am I just going to be standing here like a fluffy puffball, or am I going to be helping you out, too?”

 

“Fine then,” Jenna says, pulling off her own shirt, and I can see that there are snarls of fur all over her back, mostly in a band right by her shoulders.

 

“What’s all this from?” I ask. “What is it, Jenna?”

 

“Um…,” Jenna mutters, and I can see that her face is starting to go even redder.

 

_ “If my nose isn’t bleeding right now,”  _ I hear her mutter,  _ “it’s going to be soon.” _

 

“I can hear you, Jenna,” I say. “I’m a fox, I have sharp ears too.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Jenna says, the color of her face fading slightly to straight red instead of a scarlet. “I don’t know how to say this without sounding totally weird…”

 

“Believe me, I’ve heard a lot weirder, I promise.”

 

“Fine then, it’s because I’ve had to start wearing a bra and I’ve never had to before, so I’m not used to having to deal with one- it makes my fur all messy, and that’s what you see there. If it’s all curly, that means that I need to trim it, like I said. You know foxes don’t get anything up top until we have kits, and I’m going to soon, you know. Another month, maybe month and a half, and we’ll be parents. That enough of an explanation, dear?” she asks, her tail bopping me maybe on accident, maybe on purpose, right in a place that makes those thoughts run through my head for a few seconds before I stuff them back down and set to work, snipping the curls off of Jenna’s back, snipping all of her fur shorter a little bit, save for her tail. You don’t trim a fox’s tail, mate of that fox or not.

 

“How’s that look, Jenna?” I ask, giving her a peck on the top of her head, right between her ears and hating the taste of the loose fur that I get in my mouth.

 

“Looks great, hon,” she says, taking the scissors and setting to work on me, trimming my fur shorter, the red-orange snippets falling to the floor around us until she’s done a few minutes later. “One more thing, Theo,” she says, reaching the scissors up towards my face. “You haven’t clipped your whiskers in a month and a half, and they’re getting a little long, wouldn’t you say?”

 

“You wanna clip them off, dear?” I ask her, and she nods. “Go right ahead,” I say, and with a few swift snips, she’s shaved all of my whiskers off, leaving them to grow back later, like I know a human’s beard would.

 

“Much better,” I say, rubbing my muzzle to wake myself up a little more. “Thank you, Jenna,” I say, pecking her ears, and she responds by pouncing on top of me, which, of course, leaves me a little sore as I hit the floor of the bathroom, but hey, what can you do? I know what I can’t do right now- think straight, because Jenna’s nipping at my neck and licking at me like a little kit, and I can’t help but to do anything but love it, love the attention, love Jenna all around for what a wonderful person she is, what a wonderful mammal she is, what a wonderful mate and friend and shoulder I can hug and cry on if I need to.

 

We lay there for what feels like hours, curled up in each other’s arms in the dusky mid-morning light that’s streaming in through the skylight and the window over the sink.

 

_ Mine _ , my brain says out of the blue, and that thought catches me by surprise.  _ My mate _ , it says, and yep, I have to agree with it, so I swipe my chin across her neck and ears, marking her again as my mate, off limits to others, and, if any bastard son of a bitch decides that he wants to try and hurt her, then he’ll know that Theodore Aspen will come tear his throat out.

 

_ Oh, okay then, that’s a little a lot violent, where’d that come from? _

 

_ I have no idea, but it’s still true. If anyone dares hurt Jenna, I’ll… _

 

_ I don’t want to think what I’m thinking, no, no, no, you can’t do that Theo, you’d get sent away to jail for the rest of your sorry, pathetic excuse for a life. Not saying that that’s what my life  _ is _ , I’m just saying that that’s what it would be. _

 

“So when are we going to get up again?” I ask Jenna, whose tail is currently wrapped snugly around my middle, keeping me close, and hell, I’m not complaining, I don’t know who would.

 

“Um, how’s never sound?” she asks, looking me right in the eyes, a twinkle gleaming in their depths.

 

“You know what?” I ask. “Never sounds pretty good to me right about now.”

 

The next few hours pass in much the same way, until we have to get up because Mama’s calling us for dinner, and dang, has the whole day gone by already? I could have sworn that it was just breakfast time a short while ago. Did I eat lunch? I don’t think I did, I was too busy loving Jenna, that would explain why my stomach’s griping at me and gnawing at itself from the inside, telling me that it’s empty and hungry.

 

“Let’s go, Theo,” Jenna says, leading me to the table, where everyone’s already sitting; I guess we were the last ones to the table.

 

“Thanks for coming so quickly,” Mama says. “I’ve cooked something that I wanted to try, so I hope everyone enjoys, I’ve never had this before.”

 

“What is it? Alaina asks, peering curiously at the plate of food on the table.

 

“You’ve never had corned beef?” Tony asks, looking shocked. “But it’s so good!”

 

“Cats like beef?” I ask, a little confused.

 

“Well, at least this one does,” Tony says, licking his lips. “I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten anything in forever…”

 

“Oh, hush, Tony,” Mama says, hand on her hip, wooden spoon pointed at Tony. “Yes you have- not nearly enough, though.”

 

“You know I was just being silly, right, Mrs. Maranza?” Tony asks, smiling.

 

“Yes, I know you’re a growing cat, which means you  _ need _ to eat, you’re sixteen and growing, so here, sit. I figure we’re all going to be coming to the table soon, because IT’S SUPPERTIME!” she says, the last two words a shout that brings the sound of running paws down the stairs and out from the living room.

 

“What can we do to help?” Alaina asks, going over to the sink to wash her paws and then licking them dry because she can’t find a towel, and then slapping her forehead when she realizes that she has a towel on her shoulder.

 

“Time to wash my paws again…” she mutters. “But seriously,” she says in a voice that we can all hear, “what do you want us to do?” she says. “And what do you want everyone else to do, seeing as there’s now every mammal in this house in the kitchen,” she grumbles, waving to everyone.

 

“Okay,” Papa says, his voice coming from behind me, and I yelp in surprise.

 

“Sorry, Theo,” he says. “I didn’t mean to surprise you…”

 

“Oh, it’s okay,” I say, putting a paw over my heart in fake surprise. “I’m just going to die of a heart attack is all, you know, nothing to worry about. Just a heart attack, gee, thanks Papa.”

 

“You’re welcome, son,” Papa says, reaching his arms around me in a soft hug, and what’s that noise?

 

“Oh, geez…,” I say, realizing that I’m purring. “That’s embarrassing…”

 

“Oh, don’t worry too much about it, Theo, you’re fine,” Papa says.

 

“Oh, I know,” I say. “Come on, let’s go eat supper, Papa; Tony had a point, I’m hungry too.”

 

“Alright then, Theo,” Papa says,  not taking his arms out from around me like I was expecting him too, but now I’m being lifted off the floor as Papa hoists me onto his back. “How’s this?” he asks me as we walk into the kitchen, which, of course, makes everyone (myself included) laugh hysterically.

 

“Look, everyone!” I say, waving a paw at everyone from where I’m sitting atop Papa’s shoulders, my tail draped over his shoulder. “I get to be a flying fox again! This time’s going great!” I say, laughing as Papa reaches up a hand to tickle my side. I don’t fall, thankfully, and as Papa sets me down a minute or so later, all feels right with the world for once. I can hang onto the feeling and come out stronger, I can I can I can I can I can, and I  **_will_ ** _. _

“Hey, Theo,” Jenna says, licking my cheek as I sit back down in my seat to another fresh plate of hash. “I’ve been up all morning, you know. I got bored and said, ‘well, you know what, I need something to do, I can’t watch what’s on TV because it scares me too much, how about I cook breakfast for everyone?’ and here we are. Hope you enjoy, dear.”

 

“I will, Jenna,” I say, digging in.

 

The next week flies right by, day by day zipping by without much in the way of any variation of routine, except that I can feel a sharp, cold knot starting to grow in my stomach as the time that we’re going to have to go tying itself tighter every day.

 

I don’t want to go, but hell, I’m going to, I’m going to go and I  _ will _ survive it, even if it drives me nuts trying to.

 

_ Be more chill, Theo, today’s the day, _ I remind myself, dressing in the set of fatigues and boots that came our way a few days ago.  _ Off you go. Now c-c-c-come on, go, go! C-c-c-come on, go, go! You’ll be fine! _

 

For once, I believe it, and then I hear a sharp knock at the door, and there’s a soldier at the door again.

 

Steeling my nerves, I go to answer it.

 

_ I’m going to be okay. _


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Ain't That A Kick To The Head?

  
Chapter Fourteen: Ain’t That A Kick To The Head?

 

“So… well, this is interesting,” says the soldier, Matthewson the name strip above her left pocket reads. “I wasn’t expecting this…”

 

“Just what _were_ you expecting?” I ask her. “The army didn’t tell you that you were coming to get a whole bunch of animals and two middle aged humans? Just what am I getting myself into?”

 

“Don’t ask me, Sergeant,” the soldier says, saluting me. “I’m assuming your… _parents_ … are coming with us too, if you say that humans are coming along. “Good luck to you, Sergeant, now, please, come with me, sir.”

 

_Sir? Okay then…_

 

_I don’t know how this is going to turn out, but I see several other people in the car that we’re heading for, the one that I assume is going to the nearest Army base, where that is, though, I have no idea._

 

“Pardon me, ma’am,” I ask, “but just where exactly are we going?”

 

“To the nearest Army base, sir, I’m trying to get you there as soon as possible, so if you and your companions here would be so kind as to get into the black car that’s waiting, I’d be much obliged.”

 

“Oh, of course,” I say, heading for the car and everyone else follows suit. I’m glad Mama and Papa are going to be coming along with us, even though my life isn’t going quite the way I would have wanted it to; I would have rather not have gotten arrested, but then again, life very, very, _very_ rarely actually manages to go the way that we would want it to, and this is the life I have. I should honestly be counting my lucky stars that I’m even alive and not mounted as a pelt on some Sturgman’s wall, not bitching that I’m suffering the consequences of my actions.

 

“So where exactly _is_ the nearest Army base, ma’am?” Tony asks Ms. Matthewson, tweedling his thumbs in nervous agitation.

 

“It’s about forty, maybe forty-five, fifty minutes from here,” Ms. Matthewson (whose first name she still hasn’t told us) says, starting the car, and, noticing that everyone’s in the car, pulling away from the curb. “We’re going to Camp Ethan Allen, sir, and I should let you know that you’ve been assigned command of the camp, sir.”

 

“What?” I ask, rubbing out the insides of my ears. I can’t have heard her right, did she just say that I’m going to be the commander of the Army base that I’m being ordered to? “Did you just say what I think you just said? That _I’m_ going to be in charge of the camp?” I ask, giving voice to my thoughts.

 

“Yes, sir, that’s exactly what I said,” she says. “Which, by the way, sir, makes it so you’re _my_ CO too, I’m your second.”

 

“My second?” I ask, still trying to wrap my head around all of what’s going on. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“I’m going to be your second in command, sir, that’s what it means. So what brings you up here, anyways? Fox, right?”

 

“What? Sorry, it’s been a rough last God and Karma only know how long.”

 

“You’re a fox, right?” she asks again, and this time, I nod.

 

“Yeah, I am. Theo Aspen, by the way,” I say. “If you don’t mind me asking it of you, ma’am, how old are you?”

 

“Twenty, sir,” she says. “Why do you ask?”

 

“Just curious, ma’am,” I say. “I’m only sixteen, so… yeah, I’m feeling a little out of my depth.”

 

“I can imagine,” she says, laughing softly. “What are you even doing here, sir?”

 

“Well, for starters, I’m just Theo, Theodore if I’m in trouble, and I got my butt arrested for defending someone I hold near and dear to my heart.”

 

“Your… mate? Wife? Sorry, I don’t know the right word for it.”

 

“Both, actually,” I say, leaning forward in my seat and stretching out my paw so that she can see the silver band on my left ring finger. “We just got married, actually, and, um, is anyone going to be wondering where the heck we are? We all were under house arrest because of what I was just telling you about, are we still?”

 

“No, none of you are,” Ms. Matthewson says, passing a key back to me. “This will unlock all of your ankle monitors, so go ahead, take them off, you won’t need them anymore.”

I take the key eagerly, more than happy to get the damn thing off, and when I do, I just let it drop to the floor, feeling pure, undiluted joy at being able to have the fucking thing off for good, and then I pass the key on. A few minutes later, everyone’s darn ankle monitors are gone for good, and for the first time in months, we can breathe a little easier.

 

The view outside the car is beautiful- it’s still early spring, so there’s snow on the mountains, the sun is shining, and, when I press my paws to the windows, I can feel the warmth of the sun’s rays warming my paw pads. In other words, were I not going where I’m going, I’d be out basking in the sun and just having a little bit of fun. I’m not going anywhere where I can do that, though, but you know what? I’ve got to be pawsitive about it, because, all horribly awful puns aside, being positive (or pawsitive) is the only way that I’m going to be able to get through this alive.

 

“How much longer is it going to be?” Jenna says, and I can hear the whine in her voice. She’s scared, and a heck of a lot more than me, because she’d never really let on that she’s afraid of anything with mammals other than me, or either Mama and Papa.

 

“Not much longer, Mrs. Aspen,” Ms. Matthewson says, and I see Jenna blush.

 

“Um, we just combined our last names, actually,” she says. “It would be Mrs. Aspen-Neve.”

 

“And if we’re going there and you want to be technical,” I say, “I’m Mr. Neve-Aspen.”

 

“Oh, okay then,” Ms. Matthewson says. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

 

“I wouldn’t worry about it, ma’am,” Jenna says. “Believe you me, I think we all have bigger things to worry about than worrying about whether we get called by our names or not.”

 

“Fair point,” Ms. Matthewson says. “I’m Emma, by the way, just in case you were wondering, but then again, you probably aren’t wondering sir, I’m sorry for blathering on, I’ll be quiet now.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry about it, like I said, there are bigger things that we need to worry about, like how long it’s going to be until we get where we’re going.”

 

“Not much longer now, actually,” she says, and I notice that we’re pulling up to the gates of what I’m going to assume is the base. “We’re here.”

 

“So now what?” I ask, hating that my voice is shaking, knowing that no one, neither person or mammal, is going to pay me any heed if I don’t keep myself calm and collected. Again, that’s not something your average _vulpes vulpes_ is going to be known for, but I’m going to be.

“The soldiers are all waiting inside the camp for you, sir,” Ms. Matthewson- Emma- says as we pull up in front of the building that I’m going to assume is the head of the camp. It’s not much, just a squat one story building with siding that looks like it’s older than dirt and peeling sun-bleached yellow paint.

 

“So what am I supposed to do now?” I ask, hearing my voice hiss quietly, hating the fear that’s there.

 

“So,” Emma says, stopping the engine, “you get out of the car now, and all the soldiers are going to salute you. You salute them back- you _do_ know how to salute, right?”

 

“Yes, I do,” I say.

 

“That’s good. You’re going to be expected to greet everyone, shake their hands, what have you, you know?”

 

“I do,” I say, trying to rub the sweat off of my palms and hoping that there isn’t going to be any more on my brows. “Um, in that case, do you have a claw file? I haven’t clipped mine in way too long; I don’t want to hurt anyone…”

 

“Here you go,” Tony says, pulling one out of his pocket. “I snagged one from the house- from home- before we left, just in case. You never know when you’re going to need one.”

 

“You’re a regular MacGyver, Tony,” Jenna says. “Sorry, random fox is random.”

 

“It’s fine, Jenna,” Tony says. “I am, though. Great show, by the way.”

 

While they’re talking, I file the ends of my claws down, making sure that they won’t cut anyone, and then, taking a deep breath, I step out of the car…

 

...and then all the rifles in each and every soldier’s hands are trained straight at my head, and oh, shit!

 

“Get your hands in the air, Terran!” one of the soldier shouts, and and it’s all I can do not to wet myself. That would just plain be embarrassing…

 

“What the hell are you doing here, fox?” another one snarls. “And who did you kill to get that uniform? What’s your name?”

 

“Um…,” I stammer, feeling my tail start to wrap itself around my legs in fear, but the fear’s not going to get me, not this time, not anymore.

 

“Well?” the first soldier asks. “You gonna answer us or not, or do you not understand us, filthy Terran. You trying to spy on us, rat back to the others? Well, it ain’t gonna work!”

 

“L-look,” I stammer again, “I’m not here to kill anyone, I _didn’t_ kill anyone, this is _my_ uniform, I’m supposed to be here…. my- my- my name’s Theo Aspen…”

 

“ _You’re_ Theo Aspen?” the soldier says, taken aback. “I’m sorry, sir!” he says, snapping to a salute, which, of course, I return. “I’m sorry, sir,” he repeats, “I swear, I didn’t know…”

 

“To be quite honest,” I say, “I didn’t know myself until this morning. Were you expecting someone else?”

 

“I don’t know, sir,” the soldier, whose name I don’t know, says, shaking his head. “It’s just that, well, I suppose you understand, right? Damn Terrans coming to Earth and trying to hurt those we love. We always have to protect those we love; you understand, right?”

 

“Do I understand?” I ask, laughing. “Do I understand? Of course I understand. All these people here with me are my family, I would die to protect them. Hell, I nearly did, and that’s what got me into this mess. Damn policemen came to my school and they thought that we were the people trying to cause the scat that was going on, and lo and behold, I’m being sent off to jail for trying to protect my mate, here,” I say, pointing a paw to Jenna, who apparently was standing there the whole time, just like everyone else. “I didn’t want to be here, but I am, and I will be, at least until we all ship out. When’s that even going to be, anyways?”

 

“Not for another few weeks, sir,” another soldier, dressed in fatigues and boots like I am, says, saluting.

 

“Good to know, sir,” I say, saluting him back. “You know, you don’t have to salute me every time that I go by. I’m just a regular person trying to live as normal of a life as I possibly can, so please, don’t salute, I insist.”

 

“Yes, sir!” all the men say, and I see a few of them snap a quick salute out of the force of habit, I suppose, before they drop them.

 

“So,” I say. “What do I need to do here? Let’s see, knowing everyone’s names would be nice, and I’m kinda hungry. To the mess hall it is then!”

 

A few minutes later, we’re all sitting around several old wooden tables in the mess hall- I’m seated right next to Jenna, of course, and everyone else, as well as a few of the soldiers, who are all looking at me like I’m going to kill them. I can’t say that I blame them for feeling that way, none of them were outside with me, so all they know is that there’s a fox in the room, a walking,  talking fox who just so happens to be dressed up in an army uniform like them; I hope they don’t all think that I’m a Terran spy like some people…

 

“So what are all you foxes and wolves and other animals doing here?” one of the soldiers asks, and then another points to the sergeant’s bars that are pinned to this uniform’s shoulder straps. Wait, that’s not the right word for it, but then again, I have no idea what the correct one would be.

 

“Are you…?” the soldier starts, and then pauses. “Sorry, let me try that again. Are you in charge here?”

 

“So they tell me,” I say, digging into the tray of mashed potatoes and gravy that we got from the mess, and look back up at the soldier. He looks like he’s a little taller than me, and his chin is all stubbly. I wonder who he is, but before I can think that for long, I get a hand stuck in my direction for me to shake.

 

“Very nice to meet you, sir,” he says, saluting me, and I salute back.

 

“You know, sir,” I say, “you don’t have to be saluting me every time you see me.”

 

“Why are you calling me ‘sir,’ sir?” the soldier asks, in lieu of answering my question.

 

“Force of habit, I guess,” I say. “I’m used to being at the bottom, you know- fox and all, we’re not too popular, either at here on Earth or back on Terra.”  


“You’ve been to Terra?” the soldier asks. “What’s it like?”

 

“Yeah, I’ve been to Terra,” I say, groaning at the thought, “I was born there, came here as an exchange student, and there’s no damn way I’m going back, not with this war on…”

 

“Why do you think the Terrans even attacked in the first place?” he asks, confused as heck by the look of things.

 

“You know,” I say, “I have no idea, and if I knew, I wouldn’t be here.”

 

“Fair point, sir,” the soldier says. “Another question, sir…”

 

“Yes, sir?” I ask him. “What’s the question? Feel free and ask away.”

 

“What _are_ you?”

 

“What does it look like I am?” I say. “Take a look- I’m five foot nine of scrappy, anxious, scatterbrained sixteen year old red fox, that’s about it. Well, that and a little more- I’m Jenna’s husband and her mate, I’m Alaina’s best friend and her sister with Mama and Papa- Elena and Mark Maranza; I’m also fleeing my home planet because I was an orphan back there, just like Alaina. That’s a long and rather painful story, and I’d rather not repeat it ‘cause it brings back memories of having vodka bottles thrown at my head, and some of them were still full.”

 

“Eesh,” the soldier says. “So what happened then?”

 

“Blood all over the floor and a hole through the now-shattered window; my dad had died a while  back, and even though my mom had tried to cope, it didn’t go well. I think I inherited her self-depreciating, self-destructive personality, or maybe just a few little bits of it. The anxiety, mostly, but I’m trying to deal and learning how to. It’s a slow process, but such is life, you know?”

 

“Oh, I do,” the soldier says. “Tom Jordan, by the way,” he says, extending a paw out for me to shake. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

 

“What is it with everyone and their insistence on calling me ‘sir?’ I ask. “I’m just living here, just trying to do my job, and mostly, that job is trying not to die, you know?”

 

“I do,” Tom says. “I just joined the Army a few months back when that damn hole thing opened up in the sky. I remember looking up at the sky that one morning, and then I went back inside and slapped myself hard in the face to see if I was seeing things, because I could have sworn on my mother’s grave at the time that I was seeing things. Those slaps cleared my vision, though, and sure as freaking hell, I wasn’t seeing anything, there _was_ an enormous black patch in the sky, and yep, it’s still here, right out by where the moon would be, just a little to the right. It wasn’t much longer after that that I started to hear the reports of what was going on- war with Terra, yada yada yada, all of that, and I said, well, screw it, I’m only twenty and I have nowhere else to go in life, so I might as well go and join the army, and here I am. I have no idea what I’m getting into, do you?”

 

“No, me neither, not a single idea whatsoever,” I say, twisting my thumbs back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

 

“So what’s our plan now, sir? I assume that we’re going to be shipping out pretty soon, or am I mistaken in that assumption, sir?”

 

“To be quite honest with you, I have no idea,” I say, my thumbs starting to pick up their pace back up again. “I’m scared, really, and I have no real interest in going off to war, it’s just that that’s what I’m being forced to do against my will. Life sucks sometimes, doesn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, it really does,” he says, “but then again, what can you do, like you said. I could complain all the freaking time to each and everyone here about all the little and even the large things in life that drive me up the wall, but that wouldn’t help anyone. Really, all that would do, at absolute best, would be to drag everyone’s morale down, and then we’re just dead in the water. I don’t mean that literally, sir,” he says, catching my questioning, probably rather panicked look.

 

“Sorry,” I say, putting a paw to my forehead in frustration. “I can’t help but to take everything way too freaking literally sometimes, and it drives me nuts…”

 

“Yeah, but that’s you, sir,” Mister Jordan says. “There’s nothing wrong with you just the way you are, you know that, right, sir?”

 

“Oh, yeah, I know,” I say. “I’m just not used to all of this. Besides, aren’t we going to have to go through boot camp or some scat like that? I thought that that was the way that the army worked; that I would have to work my way up the ranks, not start off up a ways. There’s got to be a trick here, Mister Marlboro has to be tricking me somehow, he’s got to be tricking all of us, me and my friends and family more than anyone else here.”

 

“Mister Marlboro?” one of the soldiers, a taller man wearing what I’m guessing to be a dress uniform- he’s probably one of the camp’s head officers, like I shouldn’t be; I shouldn’t be here, I have not a single fucking idea what I’m doing.

 

“Do you know who I’m talking about?” I ask the soldier, officer, whoever the flock he is. “Tall, flabby man with a stinking Camel cigarette always lit up right in the corner of his mouth?”

 

“Yeah, with almost like a Russian accent?” he asks. “Kind of like Arnold?”

 

“Arnold?” I ask. “Who’s that?”

 

“The Terminator?”

 

“I’ve never heard of him,” I say. “Sorry, there’s way too damn many things about Earth and its culture that I still have no whaddya call it? No frame of reference for.”

 

“He sounds like this- ‘ _I’ll be back,_ ’” the soldier says. “Anything like that?”

 

“Actually,” I say, trying to resist the urge to turn tail and flee, “that’s spot on, just like him, and wait a fucking second,” I say, hating that I’m swearing but really not caring in the grand scheme of things, because that voice sounds just like him, almost like they’re the same person. “Wait a second,” I say, repeating myself. “There’s only one species that can do that… I forget, it was so long ago, who was it that I was talking to about those bracelets, whatever the heck they were, that I thought we could use to teach the more ignorant of us what Terrans were really like, and that technology was based on the natural abilities of one species…”

 

“And what species is that?” the same soldier asks me, looking for all the world like he just thinks that I’m crazy. Granted, he’s probably right, but that’s besides the point right about now.

 

“The Sturgmen,” I say, hoping they don’t laugh at me for giving them a name that probably sounds lie I just made it up.”

 

“The stu- sit- surg…. Grr… the Sturg-what?” the soldier asks, struggling to make sense of the word. “What in the freaking hell are those?”

 

“The Terrans’ only true enemy,” Alaina says. “They can copy the appearance and physical being of any creature that they come across… Theo, you’re thinking that-?”

 

“I’m thinking, Alaina,” I say, gulping, “that our oh so wonderful principal, that he was a- that he was one of these things, although I don’t know where he would’ve come from or why the heck he decided to come after any of us. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“It does to me, actually, sir,” another soldier, this one short and with skin that looks like a cup of coffee with a little bit of cream stirred in, says.

 

“It does? Oh?” I say, taken aback once again. “Tell me what you know, please, sir,” I say. “Honestly, I’m surprised that you know anything about them, I don’t even know any scrap of anything about them, and it was my people that were fighting them.”

 

“I served in the Air Force many years ago, sir. That would be nearly three hundred Terran years ago- the Sturgman look just like you and I, sir, like you said, they can copy any living thing right down to the letter. I also had the pleasure of serving with your father, Theo- yes, I know who you are, Theodore, my name’s James, James M. Bala, I fought in your father’s unit a Terran century later. Shame what happened to him, really, he was such a wonderful mammal.”

 

“Thank you, sir,” I say, fighting the tears and hot flash that I feel rising to my cheeks. “I still miss him, you know.”

 

“He wasn’t a good person, Theo, that’s not what I meant. Well, he _was,_ and then he got captured, and then when he came back, he wasn’t anywhere near the same Matthew Aspen that I had known. The Matthew Aspen that I had known was a great guy, always had a charming smile and a joke to crack.

 

“Then one day, he didn’t. It was after we had gotten him back, and then he wasn’t the same. He got angry, started stealing supplies, cheating at everything. Those weren’t his ashes that got sent back to Terra, by the way. I know how Terrans are, they send their bodies back home. There was no body, just a vaporized squadmate, and then your father fled, he went AWOL, and we haven’t seen him since. The last I knew of him was that he had joined up with the enemy, and well, none of us have seen him since…. I’m sorry, sir… I know-,” he starts to and tries to say, but he’s cut off when I break down crying, and before I know it, I’m sitting, crying like a kit, bawling my eyes out on the hard, cold, wet dirt of the camp’s grounds.

 

_Oh, lookie here at the poor little foxie, bawwing his eyes out, aww, foxie, aw you otay?_

 

_Shut up, brain._

 

My head pounding, chest heaving, and eyes still dripping, I force myself back to my paws and wipe my nose on the hem of my uniform cuff. Damn it, I’m a mess…

 

“Are you okay, sir?” another random soldier asks me, and I nod, trying to tune out my inner pessimistic son of a vixen mindset. “Is there anything that I can help you with, sir?”

 

“If you would be so kind as to figure out a way that I could get the heck out of here alive, that would be something that I would really, really, _really_ appreciate…” I say, drying my eyes with the end of my other not mucus sogged sleeve, wincing at the open looks of disgust that I can see in some of the men’s eyes.

 

“I’m sorry, everyone, really, I really, really, really am sorry that I have to be in charge here, I know that I’m a sorry excuse for a commander, since I barely know how to command myself, and I know that this motivational speech or whatever shit that I’m trying to say isn’t going to do any good. I really am, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be a human, but I’m all I am. That’s not an excuse, I promise, all I’m trying to say is that I can’t do everything alone, I’m just one mammal, and a rather emotionally unstable one at that. They never teach foxes how to handle themselves, just how to die, so I’m hoping to be- no, planning to be and guaranteeing myself to be, really, the first fox to ever come back from combat, and I’m bringing all of you back with me. I need your help with that, though, I can’t do it all alone. I just want to ask one small favor of you before I break down again…”

 

“What’s that, sir?” yet another soldier asks me. I can’t keep track of them all, and I’m not even going to try to, it’s too damn difficult.

 

“Please don’t die, okay? I don’t need your blood on my paws, I already have enough troubles to deal with. Believe me, I’m pretty sure that we all do. So what do we do now? I honestly have no idea what I’m doing…”

 

“Welp, seeing as we have all of the soldiers that we’ve been waiting for,” yet another soldier says, “we start training tomorrow. You may be in charge of this camp and the way it runs, but you’re sure as hell not ready to fight. Starting with boot camp tomorrow, you’re just another normal soldier. I realize that that probably sounds harsh and hard and uncaring as it’s probably possible to be, but that’s the way life is and has pretty much always been like in the good ol’ army. So are you ready?”

 

“You tell me. I have no idea, I’m tired and I’m stressed, and although I just got up, I really feel like I could stand to pass out right about now, and-”

 

A sharp cry cuts me off from behind me, and I realize that it’s Jenna’s, and when I turn around, I realize that she’s grabbing her stomach, and sure enough, there’s a wet spot on her pants, and oh, my, god, this means that oh dear god the kits are coming the kits are coming the kits are coming and just what the heck am I supposed to do, I didn’t think that she was due for another several months…

 

“Jenna!” I cry, running to her side. “Are you okay? What’s going on? Are-?”

 

“The kits coming? Yeah, oh, they are!” Jenna says, grabbing my paw in hers and clenching it in a death grip. “Off to the infirmary, dear, you’re coming along! You got me into this mess- oh, OW, OW, OW, ow, OW!” she yells, squeezing my paw so tightly that I’d be shocked if it hasn’t been shattered completely but that doesn’t matter right now, she needs me. _Protect my mate. That’s my job. Now do it!_

 

As the soldiers cart Jenna off to the infirmary, I fly after them, running as fast as my legs will carry me, and even then I’m falling behind even though I’m the fastest runner I know, and a minute later, panting and exhausted, I reach the infirmary, where the doctors inside, aside from their rather obvious shock at seeing two foxes come in the door, are treating Jenna, hooking her up to all sorts of various different machines and pumps and monitors and so many different things that it’s making my head spin so hard that I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t come flying off and go rolling across the polished tile floors.

 

“Come here, Theo,” Jenna says, fighting the pain, I can see it in her eyes that she’s terrified, too, just as much as, if not even more than me, and I do. Never disobey your mate, that’s just a reynard’s general rule of survival.

 

“Here, Jenna,” I say. “Talk to me. How are you? Everything okay?”

 

“Oh, yeah,” Jenna says, wincing with the pain once again. “Now I know what my mother must have gone through when she had me… OW! Oh, holy fuck that hurt…”

 

“Okay, Mrs. Aspen,” one of the doctors, dressed from head to foot in blue gowns, says, stepping to the foot of the bed. Everything needs to come off, clothing-wise. I hope nothing was too expensive, it’s going to be ruined ‘cause we have to cut it off… .”

 

With that, they snip Jenna’s clothes in half, draping her in a light blue blanket so that she’s not too cold, and then I have to look away- blood makes me queasy- as the doctors tell Jenna to push!

 

-and then I hear her cry out in pain, and then several smaller ones… wait, four?

 

“Look, Theo,” Jenna says, holding them a minute later as they curl on her chest, looking for milk, which they find, “they’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

 

“Yes, they are, Jenna,” I say, feeling my heart swells. “Looks like we’re going to have to think of another name, hmm?”

 

“I was thinking Micah,” Jenna says. “What do you think, Theo?” she pants, exhausted from the ordeal, and I take her paw, watching my two sons and two daughters curled up on Jenna’s chest, and for those few seconds, the world just feels wonderful.

 

“Sounds wonderful to me, Jenna,” I say. “They’re beautiful…”

 

“And I hurt like hell…,” Jenna says, smiling weakly up at me. “I was only expecting three, but it looks like there’s going to be four kits in our lives from now on…”

 

“Are you okay, Jenna?” I ask, putting a paw to her forehead and finding it warm to the touch. “You’re warm- I’m going to check your nose, okay?” I say, and before she can answer, I put a finger to the end of her nose.

 

“Boop!” I say, smiling, and then that smile quickly turns right into a frown as I realize that her nose is burning warm. _Shit._

 

“You don’t feel so hot, Jenna,” I say.

 

“No, Theo, just burning warm and freezing at the same time,” Jenna says, rubbing her arms to try and keep them warm. “I’m probably catching something… damn it, and it’s just the _perfect_ time, too…”

 

“Do you think that they’d be okay on formula or something like that? I don’t know what I should be doing. Jenna, help me out here- what would a responsible father and husband do?”

 

“Take the kits for me for a second; I want you to come with me to find a nurse…”

 

“Jenna, are you sure that you’re okay?” I ask. “There are literally doctors all over the place, hello? They’re just distracted, you know? I’ll go and get one, I’ll be right back, okay?”

 

“No, Theo,” Jenna says. “I’ll be alright, okay?” she says, but then as soon as she does, she starts panting, and I see even more beads of sweat break out on her face.

 

“Jenna, I know that you’re going to hate that I’m going to do this, but I’m going to run for a doctor, okay? Be right back!” I say, and then I run off, shouting to whoever’s listening for a little help, even just a little, just help, please!

 

Thankfully, thank God and Karma, everyone comes running, a few other doctors among the group, all of the doctors dressed head to toe in blue gowns, all of the soldiers in camo field uniforms. In other words, just how they normally would be, and yet, nothing’s how it normally would be, or even worse, how it _should_ be! I want to scream, but at this point, it would just be self-serving and selfish to complain, Jenna needs me!

With that on my mind, I fly back to the infirmary as fast as my paws will take me, and of course, Jenna isn’t moving, oh, FUCK! Oh god oh god oh god she’s dead she’s dead she’s dead please don’t let this be happening, whoever’s listening, please don’t let her be dead take me instead!

 

As my brain comes to a screeching halt, I feel myself drop to my knees right next to the bed, not caring that I feel like I just snapped my arm as I fell, just praying that what I know to be true isn’t…

 

_“Please no, please,”_ I whimper, my tail wrapping around my legs, my focus on Jenna and Jenna alone… _“I killed her… I fucked up and now she’s dead… dumbass fox… of fucking course. Here, now I’d better go back to jail because I killed her I’m a murderer oh dear god…”_

 

Sobbing, I take her paw in mine, knowing that this’ll be the last time I ever see her alive. _Jenna, I’m sorry!_

 

_“I’m sorry, Jenna…,”_ I say, fighting and failing to contain a whine from slipping out of my throat, quiet and just plain pitiful and pathetic.

 

_“It’s okay, you silly fox…”_

 

_Damn it, now I’m hearing things… I swear I’m losing it._

 

_“Theo, calm down…”_

 

_“I would if I could, Jenna,”_ I tell the voice that my mind’s making up to torture me, _“but now you’re dead and I don’t know what to do…”_

 

“You could start with looking at me,” the voice says again, and I don’t get it…

 

“What?” I say, confused.

 

“Look at me,” Jenna’s voice says again as the throbbing in my arm starts to grow to a roaring surge of pain, and I have to blot out the tears.

 

I do as I’m told, and then I see something that makes me slap myself to make sure that I’m actually seeing what my eyes are telling me that they’re seeing, Jenna wearily sticking her tongue out at me, an IV line in her arm.

 

“Am I seeing things?” I ask, still not quite believing that my eyes are telling me the truth; they’ve lied to me before.

 

“Are you looking at your mate and wife, who’s actually not dead? Yes, Theodore, dear, you are,” she says, licking my paw to tell me that it’s okay, and I return the favor, giving her a soft lick on the paw and holding onto her paw. Then, of course, she has to do something else that shocks me- she licks me right across the face, and I come to realize, once again, like always, that I’ve spun myself out of control, blown a situation out of proportion, of course I would do that of course of course of course-

 

-but I’m not spinning out of control this time, I absolutely refuse to.

 

“Sorry, Jenna,” I say, sitting in the chair next to my mate and wiping my eyes with the backs of my paws. I’m still horribly emotional, I know, but I’m trying, I swear I’m trying- and I’m not making excuses.

 

“It’s okay, Theo,” Jenna says as she smiles at me, the fur at the corners of her eyes stained wet with her tears, too. “What did you think- what was all that about? I- I was just sleeping, and then I wake up to see you bawling next to me, praying and cursing because I was dead. Panic much, Theo?” she asks, putting a paw on my shoulder.

 

“Well, you weren’t feeling well, and then I came back to see you passed out and all the doctors standing around you, and well, anxiety does some pretty freaking silly things to people… I thought you were dead, Jenna, I really did, and I was going to… well, I don’t know, break down? Well, never mind, I already did that…How are the kits doing? And I see that you’re doing better, what happened?”

 

“I threw up, that’s all it was, something wasn’t sitting right with my stomach, and then I was holding my breath because I could feel another lurch coming, that’s what you saw, dear, not a dead fox. I get it, you were terrified, right?”

 

“Mm-hmm,” I say, wringing my tail in my paws, trying to stay calm. It’s working so far, and I’m thankful for that. “Can I hold the kits?”

 

“Mama’s holding them,” Jenna says. “I’m sorry, Theo, but I really need to go back to sleep, I’m exhausted. You understand, right?”

 

“I do,” I say, sighing and rubbing my snout to clear my mind again. “Sleep well, Jenna,” I say, planting a kiss on the edge of her ear. After that, I tug the bed’s blankets up over her, thankful that there aren’t any bloodstains (or stains of any other kind, really) on them.

 

“Sorry, Mama,” I say, coming over to her. “I didn’t mean to take so long, really.”

 

“It’s okay, Theo, relax,” Mama says. “They’re wonderful, my kit,” she says. “They’re just wonderful. Here, you hold them,” she says, and with a surgeon’s fingers, she lifts them off of her chest and into my waiting arms, and I feel a flush of warmth and pride at seeing them. They’re so tiny- I suppose that that’s because they were born so early. I know that they, like me, are going to be just fine, though. Let’s see, let’s think of a few names. One looks like me, except her paws are silver, just like her mom’s. Emily, I think.

 

The next of my kits is the smallest of them all, light orange with a white patch all down his front, the only one with his eyes open- Peter.

 

Then another kit to name- my son- his fur is brown, kinda like Calvin’s, almost chocolate color (yes, even though I’ve never eaten any, I _have_ seen what it looks like), with gray paws, and eyes that are almost perfectly the color of amber, from what I can see through the cracks of his eyelids, and it makes me think of the story Alaina told me about her brother, a brother who looked a lot like my kit, a brother, long gone now, whose name was Max, and I have my third name. Now just to come up with another name. Let’s see here- a daughter to name. How about Lucy? That sounds good. I have no idea why, it just does, it makes me think of this little fox growing up happy and free, and I like that idea; after all, ‘luxim,’ at least in Vulpine, means ‘light,’ and that’s exactly where the name Lucy comes from.

 

“How are they?” Isaac asks, coming up behind me to take a look.

 

“They’re great,” I say. “Tired, mostly, just like Jenna, and just like me. I’ve got to stay up and take care of them. Do you know if they’d be able to drink formula? I don’t know it it’d hurt them, and I’m not going to do that. Anxious wreck or not, I’m going to do right by my kits.”

 

“I can appreciate all of that, Theo, I really can,” Isaac says. “Just your dumb wolf here, you know I do this a lot.”

 

“Do what a lot, Isaac? Sorry, I don’t get what you mean.”

 

“Yeah, figures,” Isaac says, smirking sadly. Comes with being stupid, I suppose. Anxiety sucks balls, man.”

“Huh?”

 

“Oh, dear god,” Isaac says, trying and failing to stop himself from busting out laughing. “Sorry, Theo, it’s just an expression.”

 

“Do I wanna know what it means? No, pass, thanks, but I get the point. Call me stupid, Isaac, but honestly, I had no idea that you were going through the same thing, why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“I think the real question here, Theo, is why didn’t _you_ tell _me_ ? We’ve been living in the same house together for months now, and I knew, just _knew_ that something something was up with you, but you didn’t say anything to me. Why not, Theo?”

 

“I didn’t really think about it. I was too busy trying to act the part, you know, the confident dad, ready to go fight for the honor of himself, his mate, and his family. Lemme guess, you too?”

 

“Yeah, exactly,” Isaac says. “You know, when I first met Alaina, I thought that I was going to either wet myself or scat my pants, because she came into the cafeteria that one day after school, and she looked pissed, Theo, _pissed,_ like _‘I will shred you to pieces and then shred the pieces’_ pissed. And yet,” he says, “when we actually got the chance to meet each other, I thought that I really liked her, because, outside of my mom, she was the only person that I had ever met, whether you’re talking about a human or a mammal, who had actually been nice to me, and I guess she thought the same thing, because, well,” he says, showing me his paw, “she asked me.

 

“I guess what I’m trying to say, Theo,” he says, smiling, “is that you have to not sweat the petty stuff.”

 

“And don’t pet the sweaty stuff, yeah, I know the expression. How do you deal with it?” I ask him, putting my paws in my pockets. “You’re a great man, Isaac, and yeah, I mean that in the human sense.”

 

“Thanks, Theo,” he says. “Now pay attention to your kits.”

 

“Yes, sir,” I say, cuddling Lucy close to me on one side of my neck, Max on the other, and holding Peter and Emily on my chest, feeling their soft little breaths against my fur and loving the warmth that they give.

 

“Theo, I’m your brother-in-law, not your CO, relax, okay? Boot camp starts in six days, maybe even sooner; Jenna’s going to be out on medical, and Alaina’s probably going to be soon too. They’ll be fine. It’s us we have to worry about. Anxiety sucks, like I said, but it can be dealt with. What’s eating you, anyways?”

 

“What do you mean by that, Isaac?” I ask, confused. “Sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about, I’m fine…”

 

“Theo, you had a panic attack not ten minutes ago, and here you’re going to stand her and tell me I’m fine. Yeah, and I’m sane.”

 

“Ha ha, no, really,” I say. “I’m fine, I promise,” I say, giving little Lucy a pet behind the ears as she snores softly and feeling a warmth in my chest. “How’s Jenna doing? Did you see?”

 

“She’s good, Theo,” Isaac says. “Like she said, she was sleeping, and she looked like she was out of it. She’s my sister, I love her with all my heart, but I’ve learned to never wake her up when she’s sleeping, especially if she’s sick. That’s a good way to get a smack to the face, and it’s one of the times that I count my lucky stars that we _don’t_ have any claws any more, otherwise my nose would be all covered in scars from where she’s given it a tweak.”

 

“I know you’ve said how you don’t have any claws, Isaac, but what happened there, anyways?”

 

“So,” Isaac says, and I can see his eyes fog a little, uh oh, “I wasn’t little little when Mama adopted us, I was maybe two or three, old enough to remember things but not really _remember_ things, and she decided that she wanted to take us home. Honestly, I had no idea that she had just lost her husband, that was new to both of us. If you hadn’t asked, Theo, I don’t think that she would’ve ever told us anything, especially not about when we were adopted. Not to hurt us or to hide anything from us, no, that’s not it at all; hurting us would be the last thing that she would want.

 

“Anyways,” Isaac says, and I can see that his eyes are growing wet and I want to say something and tell him that it’s okay if he doesn’t want to say anything else, but he’s already going on. “So the bass acwards thing about being a wolf up for adoption, or a fox or any other predatory animal, is that when we’re up for adoption, we’re considered pets, and as per Vermont adoption law, pets have to have their claws removed before they’re allowed to be taken home for good. So what happened there? You already know- they took each of us into the back room, told us to swallow five or six aspirin, and then strapped our arms to the table. You figure out the rest. Please don’t ask me again, it’s making me hurt even just to think about it…”

 

“Are you okay, Isaac?” Alaina says, coming out of Jenna’s room and seeing him rubbing his fingertips. “What’s wrong? Something hurting?”

 

“It’s nothing, Alaina,” Isaac says, faking his best smile. “It’s okay, I’m okay, we’re all-”

 

“Not okay,” Alaina says. “Theo, don’t you know any better than to ask that sort of question? You’re making him cry, selfish fox! Leave him alone!”

 

“Geez, Jenna, it’s okay, I swear, he was just wondering…”

 

“Yeah, well, he can stuff it for all I care,” Alaina says, and by that point, I’ve backed so far up that I’ve backed myself into the doorframe of the door across the hall from where I’m standing, and the rough edge of the wood and the metal trim are both digging into my back. It hurts, to say the least, but the look on Alaina’s face, telling me that I’ve fucked up again, as well as the tears in the corners of Isaac’s eyes, _those_ are what hurt, and the realization that I’m making people uncomfortable without even trying, without even realizing that I could be, now that just stings.

 

“I- I- I-,” I start to stutter. “I’m really sorry, Isaac, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, really, I didn’t even think about-”

 

“That’s right, dumbass fox, you didn’t think,” she says, pressing a finger into my chest, her claw drawing a little blood. “So think next time, okay? You’re my brother, I love you, just have a brain, mammal, and a filter on that freaking mouth of yours, it’s only going to get you into more trouble, not keep you out of it. There’s nothing wrong with being curious, but-”

 

“Alaina!” Isaac cries, the tears now just dripping from the end of his nose, making it twitch, and sure enough, he sneezes all over the place. “Leave Theo out of this, Alaina, please, okay? He didn’t mean it, and believe you me, we’re all stressed enough, none of us need to deal with this crap and yet we are. Please, just relax, okay?”

 

“I-”

 

“Alaina, hon, _please,_ leave him be, okay?” he says, putting his two paws together like he’s praying. “I get it, you’re pissed at him for not thinking, but you’re the one bursting out, not him.”

 

“But… oh, okay,” Alaina says, deflating. “Sorry, sir,” she says, tipping a salute my way, and then starting to walk away, leaving me reeling. “What was that about, Alaina?” I ask. “Come back here, please!”

 

“It’s obvious that you don’t want me around, Theo, so just leave me alone right now, okay? I’m kinda pissed at you, and unless you like the idea of having your eyes clawed out by an angry wolf, I’d back the fuck off, got it?”

 

When I don’t answer, having been shocked into silence, she _growls_ at me, not just bares her teeth, but an actual predatory warning _growl- back the fuck off, or I’ll tear you to shit, Theo._

 

_Yes ma’am!_

 

“What the fucking hell is going on with everyone today?” Isaac says, his voice high with anger and fear and a scatton of other emotions. “I can’t freaking stand it! I need the company, believe me, I think we all do, but when we’re all at each others’ throats at each and every single little freaking opportunity, it’s a great way to make a certain wolf want to pull his fur out. You know what, you guys can deal with each other, I’m going for a walk. Don’t try to follow me, okay? I need to take a breather before I snap and go after someone.”

 

With that, he walks away, and a few seconds later, I hear the infirmary’s set of double front doors slam close with a bang that echoes through the entire building, almost like Isaac just slammed the doors behind him. Actually, you know what, now that I really think about it, that’s probably exactly what he did, and I really can’t say that I blame him. He calls himself stupid all the time, but really, he’s the wisest out of all of us. I’m not a great person, I can’t even call myself a good mammal, because you know what? Isaac’s right, I’m a mess and I shouldn’t have asked him that question, and it makes me start to wonder, once again, what’s gone wrong with me.

 

Okay, stop that now, you know the answer, Theodore, and that answer is nothing, that nothing’s wrong with you, not at all, but then again, it’s a hell of a stretch to try and say that everything’s _right_ with me too.

 

“I need some fresh air,” I say. “Yes, the kits are coming with me, yes, I’ll be fine. I need to get out of here…”

 

“Oh, no you don’t, young man,” Mama says, having seemingly appeared out of nowhere. “Jenna’s okay, but you need to get yourself back in there, and don’t you think that I didn’t hear what you and Alaina and Isaac were talking about…”

 

“Sorry, Mama,” I say, ducking my head, hoping that she’ll just yell at me and get it over with. All it was was a simple question, and he’d let me ask it before, and now this? Make up your mind, world, either love me or hate me, but please, for the love of god, stop flipping between the two, I’m sorry, but my brain’s just not wired to keep doing this, it’s wearing me out.

“Theo, are you expecting me to yell at you or something?” Mama asks me, and I nod, suddenly feeling even more embarrassed at myself for expecting exactly that.

 

“Well, you should be,” Mama says, and I flinch. _Here it comes, oh, boy_.

 

“..but I’m not going to,” Mama says. “Just think before you speak, okay?”

 

“Yes, Mama,” I say. “Would you like to smack me now or wait until later, when nobody’s going to be watching?”

 

“I’d say now, but then I’d be a bad mother; I’d say later and then I’d _still_ look like a bad mother, so I’ll take the neither option there. “You’re fine, relax, and Alaina, quit overreacting.”

 

“Quit overreacting? Mama, Theo’s not thinking before he speaks, and he’s being rude, and-”

 

“And you’re the one acting like a whiny little kit, Alaina Emily, so knock it off.”

 

“But-” Alaina begins, trying to protest, but then, to everyone’s surprise, Mama smacks her hard across the cheek, and she staggers back in shock. “Mama! What the hell?”

 

“Watch your language, young lady, and calm the fuck down, okay? I get it, we’re all on edge, you’re pregnant and hormonal, I felt like that once too. Believe me, this isn’t a competition to see who can piss everyone else off the most, but it’s sure as hell really starting to feel like it. Relax, okay?”

 

“But-”

 

“Alaina, seriously,” I hiss. “What’s with you today?”

 

“I’m sick of being here, I’m sick of this life, I’m sick of everything, and I’m fed up with the fact that I can’t figure out why…”

 

“It’s called anxiety,” Tony says. “Believe me, I know the feeling. I’m pretty sure that all of us deal with the exact same thing, okay? In case you hadn’t heard what Isaac and Theo were talking about, we all deal with this, yeah? We’re sick and tired of being out of place, but maybe you’d try thinking about the pawsitive?”

 

“How’d you hear us?” I ask.

 

“I was right behind you, Theo.”

 

“Oh, and I didn’t even notice, sorry, Tony.”

 

“It’s okay, most people don’t. Anyways, though, yeah, me too, and it sucks. I thought I was the only one, I wasn’t the only one?”

 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that we were all thinking pretty much the same thing, that we were alone in what we were going through. Speaking of going it alone, where the heck is Isaac?” Tony asks.

 

“Outside,” Alaina says, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down.

 

“And nobody went after him?” Tony asks, incredulous. “Why not?”

 

“Because he told us to leave him alone, that’s why,” Alaina says, her tone harsh and biting.

 

“Alaina, rule number I don’t even know how many of a relationship- if any partner tells you that they want to be left alone, what they either want is to be left alone or chased after. Isaac’s probably the second kind of person….”

 

“Yeah, I am,” Isaac says, calling down the hallway to all of us. “I’m a little lonely, you might’ve noticed that, you might not’ve, but you know what? I don’t care right now. I’m tired and pissed off, and ack!” he shouts as Alaina starts sprinting after him.

 

“What the heck’s going on with everyone?” I ask, still trying to get my head and mind wrapped around all of this mess.

 

“We’re all worn out, I think,” Tony says. “Believe me, I know when I feel like I’ve pushed myself past the point of exhaustion, and yep, I’m definitely feeling like that right now, also kinda like I’m snapping.”

 

“Believe me, Tony,” Calvin says, putting a paw on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “we all are, now come with me for a sec, okay?”

 

“Where are we going?” Tony asks, gulping as Calvin’s tail wraps around his legs, and his face lights up bright red.

 

“Where do you think we’re going? Any place on this base that’s soundproofed, how’s that sound?”

 

“Great, actually,” Tony says, letting out a breath that I don’t think that he even realized that he was holding in, I know that I didn’t realize that I was holding one in either. “Come on, let’s go!” he says, flying after Calvin and leaving the rest of us, Alaina, Jenna, Isaac and I, staring at each other in angry embarrassment.

 

“So,” Alaina says, and I ready myself to once again get an ear lashing, but none comes. Instead, when I open my eyes again, I see Alaina sitting on the floor, head in her paws as she sobs silently into her tail. “Alaina, what’s wrong?” I ask, taking upon myself to sit on the floor next to her, trying to tune out the pain in my definitely broken wrist. “Sis, you don’t look good, come on, tell me, what’s eating you?”

 

“The fact that you fucked up and got us all sent here, Theodore,” she says, snapping at me, and right now, I’m trying my best not to snap back at her, even though I really want to. If I _do_ snap back at her, I just prove to her that I’m exactly what she fears- a dangerous animal, nothing more, that’s threatening her family, and in that case, it would be perfectly within her rights to attack me and rip me to shreds.

 

There’s only one slight, eensy, weensy, teeny tiny little problem with that whole setup, and that’s that I really don’t much care for the idea of getting torn to shreds by my sister. We may be fox and wolf, but we’ll stand by each other, ready to protect them, even if that means that we have to protect them from themselves, which is what it’s looking like I’m going to need to do. I wonder where Alaina inherited _her_ self-destroying personality from. I wonder if it’s an orphan thing, that years and years on the streets will harden your soul and lock it away, far, far, far away in a box with a lock for which they never made a key.

 

Yeah, probably. Now just to ignore the fury and try and cut it away so that way we can see the actual Alaina underneath, the kind, gentle, goofy gray wolf that I love being able to call my sister, not the bitch, pardon my language, that’s taken her place.

 

I really want to snap back at her, slice her open with my words and share with her some of the pain that she’s oh, oh, oh so more than willing to share graciously and by the bucket worth with me, but like I said (no wait I didn’t say it, I thought it, that’s completely different, isn’t it? I don’t know, and to be quite honest, I don’t care. Alaina may want absolutely freaking nothing to do with me right at this exact moment, but I‘m not going to go away until she realizes that a, I’m not the enemy here, that I have never _been_ the enemy and that I won’t ever _be_ the enemy, and b, that I’m going to drive her nuts.

 

“Look, Alaina,” I say, my tone soft and my paws out in front of me, telling Alaina that I don’t want any trouble from her, but I can tell that she wants trouble from me, because she’s backing me into the wall again, claws out, and for once in my relationship with the wolf that I call my sister, I’m genuinely afraid for my life. I hate that I’m going to have to fight her, but something’s not right with her, and then a thought hits me. There’s only real explanation for this, Alaina acting so uncharacteristically not like herself, is that if she’s not herself….

 

Which means that the Alaina that I’m looking at isn’t actually Alaina, and then where the heck is she?

 

“So, Theo,” ‘Alaina’ says. “Can I kill you now or later, you bastard?”

 

“Not if I kill you first!” one of the soldiers says, having come sprinting down the hallway at the noise, and then a bullet goes through the creature’s head, leaving a red mess all over the place and a body that’s decisively _not_ my sister’s slumped on the ground. I’ve only seen pictures of what these things are before, never in real life, never outside of a textbook in Venturing school, but of course I would know what it is, my principal’s probably one of them.

 

The creature is hideous- mottled gray skin, long, long, _long_ claws under wispy black and brown patched fur, now glassing eyes a bright white with enormous red and orange irises- a Sturgman, the morphing thing… damn, I feel like I’m going to be sick…

 

Thankfully, though, after a few minutes of breathing heavily and willing my now even more fried nerves to calm down, I’m good, but if that _thing_ ’s not my sister, which it’s so obviously not, then that just begs the question of where it came from. For a war that’s supposedly destroying our planet (Earth’s what I mean there, of freaking course, I’m not going back to Terra if I can ever avoid it. The likelihood of me being able to never have to go back to Terra if I can help it is slim to negative right now, though...) I haven’t seen any signs of it. Granted, there are shooting stars every night, and there’s still a huge black hole in the space near the moon right out in space, but that’s nothing new, but this can’t be really how it’s going to go. I remember reading a book, years and years and years ago back when I was a kit on Terra, maybe seven or eight, about how the Sturgman could copy the looks of anyone that they saw, but that just has me wondering one thing- where the heck did this damn thing come from, and then…

  


Oh my god, where’s Alaina? The thing that I thought was her I get the feeling has been here for, oh, god, I don’t even know how long, a few days, maybe?

 

No, that can’t be it, I just noticed that something seemed off this morning, which means that she could still be here on the base. I mean, it _is_ only just around eleven in the morning, so who knows, really? She could be anywhere, and-

 

“Oh, dear god, what the fuck _is_ that?” asks Mama coming out to where we’re standing in the hallway and then letting out that uncharacteristic curse word.

 

“Sturgman,” I say. “So where the heck’s Alaina?”

 

“The same place that she has been for the last two hours, Theo, sitting by Jenna’s bed, helping her out. Are you okay?”

 

“But that’s not what-,” I begin to protest, but then I think better of it, my mind calling up memories of my last day of public school, the day that began my- and all of our- slides into this mess, where none of the teachers were the ones that I could ever remember having, and yet, despite that, and despite my insistence that I didn’t know any of them, that I hadn’t ever met any of them, they all swore upon their honor that they had known me for well over a decade, that they had served as teachers at Spaulding High School for well over the last two, maybe even two and a half decades.

 

“Are you okay, Theo?” Mama asks, snapping me out of my thoughts, and it’s then that I realize that she, as well as everyone else in this room, is looking at me like I’m crazy.

 

Of course I’m crazy, and why hasn’t anyone come to take a look at my arm yet? It’s still throbbing like you wouldn’t believe…

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say, holding my busted arm in the paw of the other.

 

“What’s wrong, Theo, you don’t look fine,” Mama says. “Is there something wrong with your arm? What happened?”

 

“You remember when I tripped and fell to the ground in Jenna’s room?”

 

“Of course I remember that, how could I forget?” Mama asks, and internally, I mutter _I don’t know how, Mama, but I wouldn’t be shocked to find out that you have._

 

“Okay then, so,” I say, brushing off the question, “I slammed into the ground really hard, and yipe!” I say, wincing as my bones start to lance red hot pain up my arm once again. “Yeah, they’re broken,” I say, fighting the whimper from my voice.

 

“So anyways,” I say, “yesterday was the last time that any one of us actually saw Alaina, right?”

 

“Yeah, when we were all at the table in the mess hall eating dinner together, right?” Tony says. “I know that Alaina was Alaina then, I guarantee it. So some time between then and now, Alaina became not Alaina, so where the frick is she?”

 

“Where could she be? I haven’t-”

 

“Help!”

 

“Um…”

 

“Yeah, are you hearing what I think that I’m hearing?”

 

“Help!” the voice cries again, tiny and tinny and far, far away, but unmistakably, it’s Alaina’s.

 

“Where are you, Alaina?” Isaac cries out, head fur wild, eyes bloodshot and red, the fur under his eyes stained dark and sopping wet from crying. “Where are you, what happened?”

 

“Help!” the voice cries again, quieter this time, like it’s moving away from us, also like it’s underground.

 

_Underground_ . _That’s it, that’s where she is, but that’s great, all well and good, but where the heck is there any underground area on this base? And how the heck would we be able to get ourselves into it? And where underground could she be? She can’t be far from all of us, sound doesn’t travel through dirt and rock and concrete and all that other lovely stuff and still remain loud enough and clear enough for any of us to be able to understand it, super-sharp hearing or not._

 

_That means that she has to be near a pipe or some sort of shaft somewhere, and the only place that has a shaft that I can think of is…_

 

_Wait just a cotton pickin’ minute, there’s an air vent shaft right in the infirmary bathroom, I remember seeing it just a few hours ago when I was sitting in there. Is there any other shaft?_ I think, wracking my brain for other possible answers and not finding any.

 

_I guess that means that the answer to that question’s a big, fat, resounding oh flock no, so that means that we’re going to have to go down it, aren’t we? And then we’re going to have to fight whatever’s down there, oh, fun, yeah, sounds wonderful…_

 

_But it is what it is, and that means that we’re going to have to be heading to the armory, and fast. That is, if and when we can figure out where the heck the damn armory even is…_

 

_With that thought in mind, I dash out of the infirmary, leaving everyone behind me wondering where the heck I’m going, and they all probably think that I’ve finally snapped. Well, you know what, I might have, or even if I haven’t, I’m sure as flock going to soon if the next few minutes or hours or days or however long don’t turn out well, and let’s just say that luck’s really going to need to be on our side for once, even if it’s just going to be on our side for the teensy tiniest little sliver of a second._

 

_There’s only one problem with that, one tiny problem and by tiny problem I mean enormous problem, and that’s that it’s a rather well-known fact that luck is never on a fox’s side._

 

So instead of panicking, then, how about I try and keep myself calm and not freak out over the fact that there was an actual Sturgman in the area and I didn’t even notice it? Yeah, that sounds good, but it raises another question- how the heck did I- or anyone, really- not notice that Alaina had gone missing. Then again, I _was_ on my knees crying for what felt like forever, and then I didn’t see her because she came in afterwards…

 

Wait a flocking second…

 

“We need to get down there to help her, and we need to get down there to help her now, as in right now,” I say, barking out my orders, quite actually barking them, my voice harsh and high and panicky like a fox’s actual bark, and it shocks me how just plain animalistic I sound. Then again, though, I should sound like an animal, I guess, I mean, even though I walk and talk and try to survive (well, do more than survive, but the point that I’m trying to make is still the same), I’m still not a human, I’m still a fox, still stuck with a tail on my backside, a tail that’s currently trying its damned hardest to come off and go flying somewhere. That’s a great metaphor for life, that even my body doesn’t want to be around me any more, but once again, that’s beside the point.

 

Thankfully, I can still hear Alaina- wherever she is, she’s weeping, softly, quietly, probably trying to seem the strong sister, and so I call out to her, hoping that my voice will carry. “Are you okay, Alaina, are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine, except that I have no idea how the heck I got down here, and where even am I and oh my god I heard what was going on out there and that thing was pretending to be me and I couldn’t say anything because I was still trying to get the damn gag out of my mouth- I’m all good now by the way, save for the damn fact that I’m freezing my ass off down here and I have no idea why all of my clothes are covered in blood, but from how cold I am… damn, I’m freezing, it’s probably mine… damn damn damn where the heck did this note come from?”

 

“Note?” I ask, the pain in my arm once again right at the back of my mind. It can wait, that urge is pulling at me yet again, telling me that some son of a bitch is trying to hurt my family and my sister is hurt and I need to get to her, that I need to get to her now, now, now, now NOW!

 

“I’ll be right back, please don’t all die. Promise?”

 

“We all promise, Theo,” Tony says, wringing his paws together anxiously. No offense, Anthony, but I have more important things on my mind, usually I’d stop, but I’ve got to go right now.

 

With that thought through my mind and now long gone, even though it’s only the smallest fraction of a second later, I dash off, back through the infirmary, looking for the bathroom that I know that I was just in what feels like days and days, maybe even weeks or months or even longer ago but that I know was only an hour ago.

 

After another stretch of time that feels like endless eternities within eternities, I find where I’m going, the infirmary’s first floor bathroom, and it just so happens that there’s a huge steel grate right beneath the sink, just like I remember, because it was blowing hot air on me, but because I was feeling so scatterbrained at the time, I didn’t even think twice about where a vent in a building with no basement could be leading.

 

There’s only one problem, and thankfully, it’s not about whether or not I’ll fit through the grates, I know I will, that’s not even a question. No, the question’s more a question of where the heck I’m going to be able to get something to open the grate. Let’s see here… wait a second, the bolts’ hatches are pentagrams? Oh, flock, this isn’t good. I’ve never seen bolts like this, and I don’t think that there’s going to be a bit that can open these damn things, at least, not on Earth, not even on Terra. Where the heck am I going to be able to find some tool that’s going to be able to open these damn bolts, especially now that I can hear that Alaina’s starting to sound a little bit more frantic, and I can imagine… shit, I hope, no, I pray that she doesn’t bleed out before I can get down there.

 

It’s only then, after I panic for those few seconds, that I realize that there’s a flat, cold piece of metal in my pocket, and I want to slap myself right on the end of my muzzle for being so ignorant.

 

Duh, of course, the claw file, it’s still in my pocket, because I never gave it back to whoever gave it to me to use because I didn’t even think about it…

 

_Don’t blame yourself, Theodore,_ I tell myself, kneeling and using my spare not broken arm to hold the file, inserting it into the cracks in the tops of the screws and twisting them all of as quickly as I can, trying not to gulp as I hear some noise in the sky outside me.

 

After I get the grate off, I throw it to the side and wince as it clangs behind me as I slither on my stomach, feetpaws first, wincing and nearly yelping out in pain as my arm gets dragged with me, into the hole, where, thank god and Karma, I find a ladder, not too long, thanks again, that lets me climb my way down into the hole that descends below a long, long ways, but I see a light at the bottom, and so I make my way towards it, not caring, and quite frankly just plain oblivious to the fact that I’m probably (you know what, definitely) climbing my way one pawed down the ladder into danger.

 

Eventually, after what once again feels like an eternity (it’s only been what? Six, seven, _maybe_ ten eternities since the beginning of the day? It’s going to be a scat ton more of eternities until the end of the day if every second of it keeps dragging on like this.) I make it to the bottom of the ladder, and there, sitting in the light of a rusty old gas lamp, tied to a chair with a note in her mouth and a pool of blood at her feet.

 

“Where are you hurt?” I ask. “Are you okay?”

 

“A little faint,” she says. “I think you can probably guess why, right?”

 

I nod. “Okay, that’s great, Alaina. Where are you hurt?”

 

“There are gashes on my arms and legs, right near the ropes... I think all the blood’s coming from there…”

 

I take a look, and sure enough, there are huge gashes on both of her legs, not too deep but definitely serious, and the same goes for her arms. Let’s see here, I don’t have anything I can use to stop the bleeding, except- Alaina’s shirt, which is already torn to tatters underneath her uniform top.

 

“I hope you don’t mind me doing this,” I say, shredding her shirt the rest of the way, turning it into little strips that I can use as bandages, and that’s exactly what they get used for, several on each gash and some smaller ones on the little cuts and scrapes, and it’s all I can do now to ignore the pain in my own arm, because yeah, that bone, well, actually both of them are broken, probably, from the feeling of it. I hope that whoever might still be up there isn’t dead, I haven’t heard any more noise from up in the sky, so I’m going to take that as a good sign.

 

Alaina’s stopped bleeding, I think, but now she’s passed out from blood loss, and I’d better start screaming.

 

That’s exactly what I do, and not soon enough (even though it probably only takes a few seconds, I see Mama and Papa climbing slowly down the ladder, and I find myself thinking that I really want them to get down here faster, the pain is killing me, I’m sure it’s already mostly killed Alaina, because her breathing is slow and shallow, and there are countless beads of sweat staining the fur all over her head.

Thankfully, after another few eternities have passed (I‘m running out, I think I’m getting down to the last eternity that I have left), Mama and Papa make it down the stairs, and then I’m in the infirmary and there are machines beeping all around me and my arm is in a cast and my head is throbbing, and where’s Alaina? Oh, god where is she, and where am I? How did I get here?

 

That’s exactly the question that I ask the first nurse whose attention I can get, and she comes over to my cot, and it’s then that I realize that I recognize her, she was my physical therapist back when I was in the hospital after having been turned into a hundred and thirty pound projectile.

 

“Hi, Doctor Paila, great to see you again,” I say, giving her a small wave with my paw and a weak smile. “Funny, we always seem to keep running into each other like this… sorry.”

 

“Oh, don’t be sorry, Theo,” Doctor Paila says, returning my smile and gentle wave, “it’s fine, believe me. I think we’re going to need to pray for your sister, though, she’s not looking too hot.”

 

“Oh, god…” I say, feeling hot tears come to my eyes, and I let them just flow, not caring about how anyone’s going to think, that doesn’t matter any longer…

 

“Is she going to be okay? I hope she’s going to be okay, she’d better be okay,” I say, putting my two paws together like I’m praying, and you know what, I am praying, praying to whosoever’s listening, despite the fact that I gave up believing in any higher power years and years and years ago, when my father died, or at least, we got a jar of ashes back and we all thought that he had died.

 

“Yes, Theo, she’s going to be fine, she’s just sleeping right now, that’s what the painkillers we gave to her did. It’s okay, she’s going to be fine. Just pray that nothing else comes for us.”

 

“Shh!” I say, putting a finger to my lips and looking around in fear and panic, hoping that nothing’s heard us talking and is now going to be coming for us.

 

“Theo, relax,” Doctor Paila says, smiling ruefully at me (I’m not even sure that I’m using that word right, I need to learn more English), “it’s okay, I promise.”

 

“If it’s all okay with you, Doctor, and no offense or anything, but I’ve been having a really hard time taking any promises seriously these last several months, because, well, you know, life hasn’t quite been going the way that I would’ve wanted it to, you know?”

 

“Theo, life never, never, _never_ goes quite the way we’d want it to go, you know. If it always went the way we’d want it to, it would be so _boring_ all the freaking time. Where’s the excitement and adventure in that?”

 

“Honestly, Doctor, I’ve had enough excitement and adventure in my life, so if that could be avoided, it would be great…,” I say. “Sorry, I know, I’m here again. I’m really sorry about that…”

 

“Oh, Theo,” Doctor Paila says, smiling gently at me, “it’s okay, really, I get it.”

 

“You do?” I ask, feeling my heart swell at her words for whatever reason that I can’t seem to explain. I think it mostly just has to do with the fact that I’m happy that a human doesn’t hate me for once. Even though I already know who she is, and she already knows me, the softness and kindness and just plain gentleness in her tone of voice makes me smile, and I can feel my tail trying to wag underneath me. Yeah, it’s not just Alaina and Isaac and wolves who have tails like that, though it’s them who get the reputation for being oh so overjoyed at everything. Now I get what Isaac meant when he was telling me oh, oh so long ago, back when I was actually still in school, how he wished and hoped and prayed that his tail would stop giving him away, because that’s exactly what I feel like it’s doing to me.

 

“It’s nice to know that _someone’s_ glad to see me at least,” she says, pointing one gloved finger at my tail.

 

“Sorry, doctor,” I say, feeling embarrassed and going to grab my arm like I do out of habit when I’m feeling embarrassed, and then yelping and shock in pain as my brain realizes that holy flock, yep yep yep, it’s still broken. At least it’s in a cast, that helps, but even still…

 

“Are you alright, Mister Aspen?” Doctor Paila asks, taking a knee at the end of my bed. “It sucks that you’re here again, really. I hope you get better soon. You’ve had a rough go of it, haven’t you, poor thing?”

 

“Doctor,” I say, putting a paw up to stop her, “as much as I hurt like hell right now, I’m not a little kit any longer. I’m a young fox, sure, but I’m going to be an old one by the time I get back, you know? Time’s funky on the other side of the Bridge, but anyways, that doesn’t matter any longer. You’re right, though, ma’am,” I say as the air goes out of me as I realize that I’m pretty much fucked now, “I have had a rough go of it, but really, I’m lucky. Do you know where the rest of my family is?”

 

“If you mean Jenna, Theo, first, I’m really happy for both of you, congrats, second, she’s still in the other room. As for Alaina? She’s in the bed next to you, pretty soundly asleep, I’d say. She’s on some pretty strong painkillers, and before you ask, you are too. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if you fell asleep again pretty soon.”

 

“Am I going to remember any of what we’re talking about?” I ask. “I don’t want to forget, you know us foxes and our anxiety issues…”

 

“You’re going to be fine, Theo,” Doctor Paila says, and then she puts a paw on my shoulder. “I’m going to give you an IV drip to help you sleep, okay? Don’t worry, you’ll wake up if anything big happens, okay?”

 

“Alright, I trust you’ll do well by me, Doctor,” I say, letting out yet another breath that I didn’t even realize that I was holding in, and I feel the cold rush of the IV fluid as it presses its way into my blood vessels, a feeling of ice slowly spreading its chill through me as I start to fall asleep, the black around the edges of my vision fading in towards the middle, but picking up their pace, and then I fall asleep.

 

Thankfully, my first dream that I see once I’m all the way under is a pleasant one, a memory of me sitting with both of my parents, both young and well, all before my life started to slip down the slope that I’m now sitting at the bottom of, and we’re sitting by MacNamara Lake, a tiny little lake that would be better served if it were called a pond. Little or not, whether it gets called a pond or a lake or whatever, it’s my dad’s favorite place to go fishing. Even on Terra, the fish weren’t sentient, and considering that most everything else that a fox (or really, any other predator for that matter) would eat had evolved past the point where it could be caught and killed and eaten without being sent to jail for either murder or cannibalism or a combination of the two, fish was the best alternative that we could afford, especially with speciesism on the rise, having cost my mom the ability to be the breadwinner for our household- she was a nurse before some tailhole decided that he wanted to fake having gotten hurt while he was under her careful watch and diligent care, and there went most of our income. Life got hard fast, so my dad decided that he was going to re-up for another two years. After all, he’d told us all the day before he left us for what was going to turn out to be the last time that any of us would ever see him alive (although none of us knew that that was going to be the case at the time), he was only going to be serving in a border position, and although that job was usually dangerous, his sector of the universe was an area that had never seen action, not until just a little over a Terran decade ago.

 

Anyways, though, to focus on the positive, this is still a decent dream, we’re eating a brunch of sorts all together, my little brother and little sister sitting on my mom’s shoulders. I haven’t seen them in forever- they were lucky, they were small and cute and innocent, so they got put up for adoption, and I’m willing to bed quite a large chunk of change that they got sent to Earth. After all, as I came to realize, that’s exactly what happened to Terran orphans when the war started to get bad again, they got shipped off the planet, out of the universe, even, and shipped over here, across the Bridge, to where they could be adopted by human families who couldn’t have kids (or kits, for that matter) of their own. My wife, my mate, Jenna, she’s one of those mammals, and so is her brother. He’s such a screwball, and it doesn’t help his case that he’s one of the younger ones among the bunch, so everyone treats him even more like a little pup than they treat me like I’m just a young kit. I’m freaking sixteen, but then again, in those people’s defense, if they didn’t know any better, Isaac really _does_ look like a walking, talking golden retriever. I can’t tell him that I’m thinking that about him, if he ever were to find out, he would have my hide, and I mean that rather literally.

 

I don’t want to be skinned by my brother-in-law, that would be icky, to say the least.

 

As soon as I ‘think’ that, the dream changes into one that I’ve seen before, and as a matter of fact, I wake up screaming after it’s over pretty much every night, the one moment where, had I said what was actually on my mind instead of what I said, my life would have gone differently.

 

I’m four years old again, and there’s a letter and a jar in my paws. Of course, as a sixteen-year-old reynard, I know what the contents of the jar are, but in the context of the dream, I have no idea what’s in it. Back when this moment actually happened, I opened the letter, even though the soldier had told me expressly not to.

 

Back when I was four, I was a pretty smart kid- pretty much everyone who knew me called me a little professor, but that’s besides the point- so of course I could read the letter, the words weren’t that hard anyways, and so I started bawling, and my mom looks over at me with tears in her eyes, as she slaps me on the cheek, hard, hard enough to sting and shock me into silence with tears of pain in my own eyes now, and then she starts to tear into me. I don’t mean that literally, but it sure as freaking hell feels like she’s tearing into me literally enough, screaming at me as I cower in fear, trying to drown out the words that are pounding like ice picks into my ears. Damn it, it hurts, and I want to run but the kitchen door’s shut and I’m stuck in here and it’s only a dream it’s only a dream it’s only a dream damn it why can’t I wake up? I’m stuck in here in this place, feeling the splinters that are digging into the backs of my paw pads start to tear skin as I try and crawl away as a beer bottle, only just recently opened and emptied, flies at my head, only barely just missing me. In fact, I have a scar from where a chip of the glass flew up and cut my eyebrow…

 

Please, please, please let this dream end, please please please please please… please brain, leave me alone, I already feel like I’m messed up enough, I don’t need to be seeing this for a third time. Or is it even just the third time that I’ve had to deal with this? It’s probably been even more times than just three, maybe even four, five? Six, even? No, not that many, but enough, enough so that I just want to wake up but I can’t, the drug that’s in my system is keeping me asleep…

 

Help me! I need to get out of here!

 

After tormenting me with the same loop of thoughts for the next what feels like another ten or so eternities (damn it, now I’m really going to be out of extras [extra eternities, that is]), the channel switches, per se, and I find myself reliving the second flying fox moment of my life, the one where Papa hoisted me up on his shoulders and carried me around, and I realize that what I’m feeling right now, just that pure, unfiltered joy, that that’s been missing from my life for quite a long, long, _long_ time.

 

It’s only after I sit on Papa’s shoulders for a a few minutes that I realize that I’m starting to wake up again, and I don’t like what I’m hearing outside. What the heck am I even hearing, anyways? Whatever the heck it is, it’s scaring me, I realize as I wake up completely, and why am I all wet?

 

Fuck, I wet the bed…

 

Damn it, now I’m going to smell like pee…

 

Ugh, at least it’s not the worst thing that I’ve had to deal with, and thankfully, I’m just in a hospital gown, so I can switch those out with the spare one on the side table next to my bed as I get up and strip them off, hating that the wind decides that now is a perfect opportunity to come zipping through, freezing parts of me that I’d rather not have frozen, I kinda need them…

 

Frozen fur and other bits and pieces aside, though, I need to focus. I put on the rest of my uniform- fatigue top and bottoms, underwear too, of course, and dash over to where Alaina’s slowly waking up. She needs to wake up faster, the world’s starting to fall apart again and I’m not going to lose her, too, and _oh my god,_ I think as I try to tune out the noise that’s coming from outside, whatever the frick is causing it, _where’s Jenna? Where’s my mate? I need to find her, I need to find my kits and keep them safe, I need to protect everyone…._

 

“Alaina Alaina Alaina!” I say, tugging at her blankets and pulling them off of her and tugging at her shirt and shoulder, trying to do anything, and I mean _anything_ to get her to wake up, trying my dam hardest to not freak out at what I’m hearing, from the banging that’s coming from outside is making, whatever the freak is causing the racket to the wind that’s starting to howl outside.

 

“Mmph, what?” Alaina mutters, sleepily brushing my paw aside. “Theo, I’m trying to sleep, can’t you tell that? I don’t feel good, I’d hope you remember that, brother mine. What was I even doing? I must’ve hit my head real good, it’s still throbbing. Flock, that hurts!”

 

“What, the noise from outside or the whole I’m yanking your ear thing?”

 

“Both, Theo,” Alaina says grouchily, and I can see that she’s fighting a snarl. “Now, are you going to let me go back to sleep or not? I have a headache, and that noise coming from outside isn’t helping anything… go aways, noise. Theo, would you make the noise go away, please? Be a good brother for me… make it go away. My head hurts,” she grumbles.

 

“Yeah, I hate to rain on your parade, Alaina, sister dear,” I say, shouting over the pulling on her arm again, getting an angry look in response, “but we kinda need to get going, we’re under attack again….”

 

_That_ wakes her up, and she sits bolt upright, fear plastered all over her face, her ears sticking straight back out, tail shot straight back out behind her like a gray and white banner, flicking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

 

“Come on, then, Theo, we need to get going, and we need to get going now!” she says, the panic evident in every part of her body, face, ears, tail, you name it, it’s on high alert and freak out now time mode.

 

“You’re telling me!” I say, helping her get all the way out of the bed, her claws digging my paw pads as wwe flee, and it’s all I can do, seeing as I feel like I’m completely flipping out right now, to not lose it any more than I already have.

 

“Where’s everyone else?” I ask her as we fly out through the infirmary’s front door and screech to a halt when we notice what’s going on outside, the noise, already nearly deafening before, having grown to nearly three, or maybe even four times the the volume. Suffice it to say, I can’t stand it, and even with my paws pressed over my ears like both Jenna and I are now doing, we can barely hear anything else, let alone each other or our own thoughts.

 

_“What the freak is going on?”_ I hear Jenna shout, fighting to get her voice to be heard over the racket.

 

_“No idea, Jenna. No freaking idea at all!”_ I shout back, barely able to hear myself over the noise, trying to figure out where it’s coming from and then nearly jumping out of my hide when I realize that there’s a ship, a spaceship, slowly settling out of the sky. What the hell is that?

 

Thankfully, the noise levels drop a few hundred notches when the ship- long and covered in what looks like polished chrome with enormous wings that stretch probably three hundred paws long in each direction, complete with blinking lights and everything. In other words, almost an exact replica of a Terran spacecraft, and that makes my heart rate skyrocket, from a decent, relatively normal for a string bean of a fox 90 beats per minute to nearly double that, almost three beats a second, pushing my heart almost to its breaking point, and I hate the feeling, that feeling that I’m just going to keel over and die, but no, I have to think positively, we’re not going to die we’re not going to die we’re not going to die, I can promise myself that at the very least.

 

Oh, who am I kidding… no one, not anymore, and then again, I don’t think that I ever really was, fooling anyone, that is.

 

“W-what is that thing doing here?” Alaina asks, a paw on my shoulder, and then I feel another paw, and I realize that she’s hiding behind me and using me as a shield. I can’t say that I appreciate being a shield, but at least that means that she trusts me enough to do it. See, I can think positively fur once! I can, and when I finally get through this hare-raising tail, probably by only a whisker, I’ll have to take a paws.

 

Okay, that’s enough puns, and really, considering the situation, they’re not entirely appropriate. There’s a ship from somewhere that’s just touched down in the front lawn, per se, of the military base that I’m supposed to be in charge of, but really, it’s taken charge of me. I can’t say that I’m complaining, really, but yeah, uh, fuck that, never mind, I am complaining, get me the fucking hell out of here, and I have no idea why there’s a Terran ship on the base, and wait a minute, I think as I catch sight of the serial number on the tail of the ship- C-32693-G, and something clicks in the back of my mind, the worn-out, tired, rusty and beat gears of my brain grinding to life. Wait a second, my brain tells me, wait a sec wait a sec wait a sec here, just one dam second, if that’s the tail number then I know this ship, I helped Alaina fly it here to Earth, and it’s been here since. How you can forget about your own spaceship in your own dam back yard, but I think I just did.

 

“Oh, well flock me,” Alaina says, apparently not noticing the same thing that I did as she starts to shake, so I put a paw on her shoulder, my ears still kinda numb from the noise earlier. “Sis, relax, it’s okay, you’re fine, I’m fine, you’re not going to die, I’m not going to die-”

 

“We’re all going to die!” she screams, and I facepaw. “Alaina, sis, I thought so too, but, um do you maybe notice that we’re not dead and we’re not going to die anywhere soon, just, um, relax,  Mrs. Neve has her pilot’s license.”

 

“What does that have to do with anything? There’s a fucking Terran ship in the yard and its guns are pointed right at us-”

 

“And your mother in law was the one who flew it here, you know, there’s been one in our back yard back in Barre, the one that we freaking landed there about eight, nine months ago? See the number on the back fin of the plane? Yeah, you do? Good, it’s our freaking plane, okay? You remember? We flew it here, you helped me land it, remember that?”

 

“What?” Alaina asks, panic still on her face, and if I’m being quite honest, both with myself and with her, I don’t suppose that the grimace I have on my face, the one that probably looks like an angry snarl, is helping much of anything.

 

Trying to wipe that look off of my face, I slap her hard across the face, and that gets her attention, finally, and she rounds on me, her ears back and hackles raised. “Theodore Michael Neve-Aspen!” she says, using my full name for the first time, “what the fucking hell was that for?”

 

“Relax, Alaina,” I say, putting two placating paws out in front of me.

 

“Relax, Theo? Really? There’s a ship here and you just slapped me and you were all hysterical, and-”

 

“And now _you’re_ the hysterical one, sis,” I say. “Weren’t you listening to me, or were you not? You notice that Mrs. Neve hasn’t been here, right? How it’s been just us and Mama and Papa, right?”

 

“Yeah…,” Alaina says, sitting on the floor like a kicked kit, and I hear her start to cry, low at first, but it slowly grows louder until she’s fully crying, and I sit next to her, ignoring the cold that seeps into my clothes as I sit, both from the cold of the concrete as well as the water from my sister’s tears.

 

“Alaina, it’s okay, you’re going to be fine,” I tell her. “It’s our ship, remember?”

 

Instead of answering me, Alaina puts her head in my lap, and unsure of what I should do, I start to stroke her ears. Thankfully, she doesn’t complain, and, in fact, her tail starts to wag a little bit as she lays there, eyes closed and breathing softly. “So if it’s our ship, then what the heck is it doing here?”

 

“Like I said, sis,” I say, giving her ear a playful lick, bringing a smile to her face, “Mrs. Neve has her pilot’s license, and she hasn’t seen any of us for the last week, so I think she kinda wants to come say hello. Maybe she wants to fly us out of this heckhole. Hell, I wouldn’t argue with that, I need to get out of here, too. There’s only one problem, though, and it’s the same sort of problem that Jenna and I and the rest of our group here had to deal with while you were away- the monsters are coming, Alaina, they’re coming, one of them was even pretending to be you, and I had to shoot it because it was coming at me and…”

 

“Theo,” Jenna says with a look in her blue eyes that looks like it can pierce me straight through, which is exactly what it’s doing right now, “you need to relax. Take your own advice, now,” she says, picking her head up out of my lap and fixing that gaze on me, which sends shivers up my spine even more than the whole ‘my mother just landed a spaceship outside the building I’m in and oh yeah, I’m still a fox here’ thing, which I didn’t even know was possible. You know-” I hear her say as my attention is dragged back towards the spaceship, mostly caused by Alaina grabbing the top of my uniform and pulling me outside, and I’m suddenly thankful that we didn’t have any IV lines in because it would hurt like flock to have them get torn out of our arms on accident.

 

Ugh, that’s not a mental picture that I wanted, but anyways… yeah, my sister’s dragging me out to see whatever the heck that ship is and oh god I’m scared. But then again, I’m freaking terrified of everything, what else is new? Nothing, that’s what, and oh yeah, I knew that already, thanks brain, now can you get Alaina to let go of my paw now?

 

Before I have the opportunity to do just that, though, I realize that I’ve already been dragged all the way out to the ship, and yep, sure enough, it’s Mrs. Neve at the controls. Quite honestly, I have no idea how the woman figured out the controls, but heck, she did it, I’ll give her credit for that, at the very least.

“So how did you get this thing here anyways, Mrs. Neve?” Alaina asks her, rubbing her paws to fight the cold that still hasn’t gone away. It’s March by now, I think, and usually, or at least on Terra, the snow had melted by now. Maybe it takes longer to melt here on Earth? Then again, though, that doesn’t matter, I need to focus on what’s at paw here, kinda like, well, you know, the fate of the entirety of the Two Universes.

 

“I never told you guys?” Mrs. Neve asks us, and both of us shake our heads no.

 

“Yeah, no,” Alaina says, giving voice to our thoughts. “So long story short, you were a pilot?”

 

“Yeah, I was, something like thirty years ago- thirty Earth years, that is, so I hope I’m not _too_ out of practice… we’d all better hope and pray that I’ll be able to fly this thing where we need to go…”

 

“And where is that, Mom?” Isaac asks, coming up from behind us. “And what’s going to happen to Jenna? Are we just going to leave her here, leave her here to get hurt or maybe even killed? How’s that fair to her?”

 

“Great question, honestly, but it’s not one that we have the time to answer right about now, dear, now come on, we have to go...  Alaina, stay here.”

 

“What?” Alaina asks, shocked, and quite honestly, I am too. “But Mrs. Neve, we can help!”

 

“And you’re pregnant and need to keep yourself safe, and besides, Jenna’s going to need a little help. Theo, can Alaina be in charge for a while? Is that okay?”

 

“Yeah, of course it’s okay,” I say, smiling at her silly choice of words. “Mrs. Neve- Bianca, sorry- look, I’m not a kit any more than you or Mama or Papa, not any more than Alaina or Isaac or Jenna, okay?”

 

“Fine with me, sir,” she says, smiling. “So how long until we need to move out?”

 

“Well,” Mama says, pointing at the streaks that are making their own ways across the sky, leaving burning red trails and black _something_ , smoke, ash, whatever the scat is. “Yeah, those are what you think they are, so we’d better get going if we want to have a decent chance. Say your goodbyes, and hope the oxygen masks are packed, we need to get going…”

 

“Yes, ma’am!” I shout and I dash back inside to come muzzle to muzzle with my mate, and I see the fear in her eyes, and I see the fear in my sister’s eyes too, along with the message written in them- _you’re coming back alive, Theodore, or I’ll kill you deader._

 

_Yeah, I know, sis, I’d do the same. Wish me luck._

 

_So long, Theo, I’ll be waiting._

 

_Me too,_ I smile, and then I run back to the ship, the streaks having stretched farther across the sky, closer to the horizon.

 

“Okay, where are we going?” I ask Mama as I strap myself into the back chair of the ship, Mama having strapped herself into the captain’s chair, and Isaac’s in the co-pilot’s seat. While I was talking to Mama a few minutes ago, Tony and Calvin got on board as well, leaving the TI-GC (Terran Inter-Universal Cruiser) _Emberlain_ ready and loaded for launch.

 

“We ready to go here?” Mama asks, flipping switches that even I don’t know how to use, or even what they do, and I’m the dam talking fox here that flew from Terran in the freaking thing. I’m thankful that it at least came with an autopilot build in, but it’s only built to go one way, as far as I know, from Terra to Earth, not from Earth to Terra… **_scat._ **

 

“Yeah, we’re ready to go,” Tony says. “At least I am, what about everyone else?”

 

“I’m terrified,” Isaac says, “but what else is new? Nothing, that’s what, exactly nothing, so let’s go.”

 

“I’m good,” Calvin says, smiling awkwardly at Tony.

 

“And I’m as good as I’m ever going to get, Mrs. Neve,” I say. “So let’s go, before my tail decides that it wants to clench itself even tighter around the bases of my legs, hmm? I don’t think that I’m going to be able to fight very well if I’m not able to unwind and relax, and there’s no way that I’m going to be able to do either if we don’t get going soon.”

 

“Yeah, no kidding,” Mrs. Neve says, smiling, in a display of emotions that I haven’t seen from her in what feels like it’s been forever and for always. “NOw let’s go kick some tail, why don’t we?”

 

“That’s the best idea that anyone’s ever had, Mama!” Isaac says, his tail wagging wildly behind him as the ship lifts off the ground, its thrusters humming with the force of trying to fight Earth’s gravity for a second time. “Whoa, this feels weird… are we actually flying here, or what is it? It doesn’t feel like we’re flying, but we’re moving up…”

 

“It’s called hovering, Isaac, and yeah, we’re going up. Take a look out the windows if you like, we’re probably pretty high up already.”

 

Isaac does just that, and I decide that I want to join him too, so I do, and I get up out of my seat and go to take a look out the clear window in the side of the ship’s hull, right above the right wing, and what I see nearly takes my breath away. We’re right in a low orbit, I don’t even know how high up we are, but low enough so that we’re not getting mixed up with the ships that have been hovering like silent spheres many, many, _many_ miles above us. We’re high enough up so that I can see most of the eastern seaboard of the country that I live it- what’s it called again? I think it was the United States, but whatever, that doesn’t matter, what matters is that I can see all the scars that the ‘Terran’ bombing has caused, and all of a sudden, I see those four streaks of light come zooming across my field of view, everyone’s field of view, plowing their way across the US and then dropping hard and fast, fast, faster and faster until- and none of us can believe it when we see it- they plow straight into the largest cities on the eastern seaboard- New York City, Atlanta, DC and Philadelphia, and, as my stomach roils as I see the fireballs erupt from all four of those locations, a broadcast crackles over the ship’s broadcast system, making the hundred (Terran) year old speakers scream and squeal. In other words, it feels like there’s just been an enormous needle driven into both of my ears, right through the eardrums.

 

“Holy fuck…” I hear Calvin mutter, trying to hide his cursing under his breath. “What the hell was tha-” he begins, but the message blaring from the intercom cuts him off, and he falls silent, out of shock and surprise, caught, like me, by the what the message says:

 

“-reports of explosions, enormous, enormous explosions in several major US cities. Onlookers report seeing what looked like enormous meteors streaming towards the city in the few minutes and seconds before the explosions occurred. It is unknown as of this time what the exact cause of these explosions were, but all the present findings seem to support NASA Director Marlboro’s immediate assertions to the press and various other media that this was a Terran attack directly to the heart of our people. We will return in kind. If any Terran is listening to this, go hide in your closets, in your basements, wherever you want to, really, because we’re going to bomb the shit out of you! This means WAR!”

 

With that, the radio goes silent, and the only noise in the ship is the sound of all of us, all the mammals and the one human on board our ship as it slowly rises higher in the Earth’s atmosphere, crying softly to ourselves as we realize that what we knew to be our world was no longer, that that world was gone.

Isaac asks me what's going to happen now, and “honestly, mammal,” I tell him, “I have no idea, I mean, I'm just going to have to hope and pray that we don't all die now.”

 

“Yeah, that sounds good to me, Theo,” he says. “So, um, where are we even going anyway? Sorry, forgetful wolf here.”

 

“I can only guess, mam,” I tell him. “Um, maybe we’re going to be going back to Terra?”

 

“Back to Terra? What?” he exclaims in surprise and shock. “Why would you be going back there? I mean, isn't it the Sturgman that are causing this whole thing? Not- not the Terrans, so why we going back to Tara?  What point is there to go back?”

 

“You're asking me, Isaac?” I say, since I have no idea. “We both fled from there, and now they’re going to force us to go back and look you're just as scared as I am, so,” I sigh,  “we're just going to have to tough it out. I wish I knew what I was supposed to say... it's supposed to be my job to be the protective brother, you know, but I just- I- I-,” I sigh once again, putting my paws over my eyes in frustration and shame, “You know,  I really wish I could be, but I'm stuck going to Terra and know my brain is freaking out on me again and it’s driving me nuts and-”

 

“And nuts are for the squirrels, Theo, and you’re a fox, so stop eating them, you’ll make us all crazy.”

 

“Oh,” I say, “I think I pretty much already did that. And a check mark for today!”

 

“Dude, you shouldn't be getting a prize for being annoying, you know.” Isaac says.

 

“Oh, I'm not not really in it for the prizes, Isaac, just the look on your face, that's all I need.”

 

“You’re a pain in the tail, Theo,” he tells me, “but hell, that's why we love you.”

 

“And we still love you too, Isaac,” everybody tells him, all smiling despite the situation. “Believe me, we are all strong, we are all going to do this together, we are all going to come out together, we all are going to come out of this together alive, and we are all going to come out of this together alive, well, and sane. Believe me, I know that it sounds impossible, I'm sure, but it's not impossible. it's doable We’re mammals. We’re strong, we keep fighting even when the going gets tough because we know that's when the tough get going. So who's with me?!?” I shout, trying to rally everybody together, trying to rally myself, trying more than anything just to keep it together.

 

Thankfully, that last part isn't too hard; I managed to keep together and everybody seems to all believe me.

 

As I watch Earth grow smaller out the window of the spaceship, I look at the plumes of smoke rising from the planet and wonder whose idea it was to try and screw with Earth, because that never goes well. I would know, I'm not from Earth, I never will have been from Earth, I was born on Terra, I am a fox, not a human, I've never been a human, I've tried to be one before but I never will be one. I just have to embrace that I am me but I am strong, that we all are strong, and that we will all be strong together.

 

Thankfully, it doesn't take much for everybody to be convinced that we can all be together, that we can all work together, that we are all strong together, like I said, and thankfully it doesn't take much more work besides what I say to everyone to convince myself as well. That's the hardest part, to convince myself. You know, when I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut, an explorer of some sort. The Venturing program gave me that opportunity and it forced me through hell at the same time, but I came out stronger; I am still alive. I am a fox, but I'm not just an animal.

 

It's at this point of course like always like life tends to do that things get annoying.  As soon as I finish my speech and I think I've managed to get everyone cheered up, of course another broadcast has to come over the radio of course of course of course of course of course why the flock did it have to come over the radio now?

 

Of course another broadcast had to come over the radio right as I managed to get myself calmed down of course of course of FUCKING course…

 

Damn, I need to calm down, and I need to do it now…

 

Okay, so now to focus on the positives, right? I’m flying I don’t even know how high up in Earth’s atmosphere, and then some _things_ have just destroyed half of the cities on Earth’s eastern seaboard and wait a second, where’s Mrs. Neve, and where’d this snow leopard come from?

 

“Okay, who the hell are you and how the fuck did you get onto our ship?” Isaac asks, noticing the same thing I did, and then frowning as the leopard, which still hasn’t told us its name, hands him what looks like a watch, and then-

 

“Mrs. Neve?” I ask, wincing as the realization hits me, and the leopard smiles. “How?”

 

“I told you I was in the army, didn’t I? I’ve done this a time or two…”

“Are you really-” I ask. “Are you still-”

 

“Bianca Neve? Yeah, I’m still me, or rather, Corporal Neve, if you want my rank, Lieutenant…”

 

“M-Mom?” Isaac says, staring at the mammal who used to look like a human, like his mother, and now… I don’t think any one of us can quite get our minds to believe what our eyes are telling us, that there’s a snow leopard in the pilot’s seat, and quite honestly, she looks like she’s _maybe_ twenty-five, and I mean that in human years. I guess time’s a little wonky? I don’t know, I don’t want to think about the possibility that I could be a hell of a lot older than sixteen by the time we get back.

 

“What, Isaac, is this a little too much to take in?” the leopard asks, and I’m just going to flat out and say it now, I have no idea what I’m seeing here, I don’t know if I can even believe what I’m seeing.

 

“Just a l-little bit, M-Mom…. you are still my mom, aren’t you? You’re still Mrs. Neve?”

 

“Yeah, still me, just a little different looking, you know, that’s all.”

 

“So where did you get that stinking bracelet?” Tony asks. “I remember researching it our first day of school when I got stuck with Theo for a project… are you thinking what I’m thinking? Kill her!” Tony yells, running at her with a knife that he’s pulled out of somewhere, and we all leap after him, but then we stop, Tony included, when we see that she has a gun in a side holster, and not just a small gun, but a large one, a Terran-issue Chekov-89, heavy and deadly.

 

“Um, so is this where you kill us, Mom?” Isaac asks, looking for all the Worlds like he’s going to wet himself. “I don’t wanna die, please don’t kill me, please don-”

 

“Isaac, calm down, seriously, okay? I’m not a stinking Sturgman, I stole this from a dead one years and years ago. I’m a refugee as much as any of you guys are. Besides, how else would I have been able to adopt you? Earth was a lot more suspicious of Terrans being adopted by non-Terrans back then. I’m still the same person, really…”

 

“I’m glad to hear that, really!” Isaac says, running up to give her a hug, and I’m struck by how just plain freaking weird all of this is, although the name makes a heck of a lot more sense now.

 

“If you don’t mind me asking, just how old are you, anyways? Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but-”

 

“Oh, no, it’s fine, Theo,” Mrs. Neve says, her tail -yep, that makes this scat official, she’s not the Mrs. Neve who I thought that I knew- flicking happily behind her as her son, my brother-in-law, squeezes her in a hug. “I’m twenty-eight, still plenty young. Cats get it good, I suppose, we live till eighty, maybe ninety or so.”

 

“You’re beautiful, Mama,” Isaac says, his tail wagging like crazy, and then he stops, his face draining of all its color. “Oh, geez, I probably shouldn’t say that, that sounds creepy, but seriously, you are… gah, I’m a dumb wolf.”

 

“It’s fine, Isaac,” Mrs. Neve says. “I didn’t mean to surprise you, I just thought you should know before we actually got where we’re going.”

 

“This is a lot to get my mind wrapped around,” Tony says. “So does it feel weird not having a tail?”

 

“Yeah, it does,” Mrs. Neve says, holding hers in her paws.

 

“And do you actually get nine lives?” Calvin asks, his own tail wagging excitedly.

 

“Oh, no, actually, we don’t,” Mrs. Neve says, frowning at that one. “We’re just really good at not dying, Calvin. Here’s hoping that I’ll be able to teach all of you how to stay alive just as well.”

 

“Is no one freaking out over the fact that my mom is a leopard and not a human, or is it just like, ‘well, okay, I’ve seen so much freaky weird stuff in my life that nothing really fazes me anymore?’ Is that it?”

 

“Bonus points for the tan wolf!” Calvin says. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it, and I can thank Tony for dragging me along here on this mess. My dad’s so going to have my hide when I get back.”

 

“What, does he not know where you are?”

 

“Oh, no, that’s not it, he knows where I am, just not what I’m doing… or, well, he thinks he knows where I am… last he knew I was back at the base… scat, I’m going to be so screwed…”

 

“Well, if you’re offering,” Tony says, looking at him with a mischievous grin on his face, “I’ll help, if you’d like, I mean, the cargo bay is padded…”

 

“Tony!” Calvin says, his face lighting up bright red, and I can’t say I blame him, because if Jenna were to offer me the same thing, I know that I’d say yes without even a split second’s hesitation. From where Tony has his paws, I can tell that he wants to say yes so, so, so badly.

 

“Oh, go on, Calvin,” I say, smiling at the wolf, who’s blushing **_red_ ** . “The cargo bay _is_ padded, like Tony says.”

 

“Um… okay then,” Calvin says, and they both wander off together, and I hear the cargo bay’s  door and latch slam shut behind them, then nothing.

 

“Well, that settles that,” Mrs. Neve says, an almost (pardon me for the pun) _catty_ smile on her face as she twists her whiskers between two clawed fingers. Yeah, it’s weird, to say the least, to find out that your mother-in-law isn’t actually human.

 

“So what made you want to come to Earth in the first place, Mrs. Neve? Sorry, why can’t I ever keep it straight, you’re Bianca, and that feels even weirder, especially realizing that you’re just a few years older than me… dang…”

 

“Like I said, I’m a refugee, Theo, I fled because I had only two choices, pretty much exactly like you and Alaina had to do. I may only be twenty-eight, but that’s in human years. I left Terra over a century ago in its time frame, and it wasn’t good, just to say the least, even back then. I take it things have only gotten worse?”

 

“Well, what do you call worse? Things were always scat on Terra, Mrs. Neve. Famine, flooding, fires, freezing, lots of fights and a whole freaking flock-ton of other scat going on, so nothing new there,” I say. “Believe me, if anything, we’re a little better off now, or at least, we were, back before-”

 

“Um, Mom, if you don’t mind,” Isaac says, rubbing his paws down his arms, and I can see that the fur on them is standing straight up, and I realize that I’m just as freezing, “would you mind turning on the heat? Our winter coats never really came in, and it’s even colder up here…”

 

“Not a problem, dear,” Mrs. Neve says, switching a few knobs on the dashboard, and then a few seconds later, heat starts coming from the vents all around us, ruffling our fur and warming the skin underneath, leaving the ship warmed all the way throughout, though it’s probably still a heck of a lot colder than whatever Tony and Calvin are doing in the cargo bay…

 

_Clean thoughts, Theo, keep ‘em clean…_

 

“If you don’t mind me sounding like a pest, Mrs. Neve,” I say, “you never answered my question from earlier…”

 

“What question, Theo?”

 

“The whole question of where the flocking hell are we going? And where the heck did those things, those lights, those whatever the fuck they were come from and just…. agh!”

 

“Those were Sturgman missiles, Theo, we’re going back to Terra, and I hope that answered your question. Still finding it weird that I look like this? I can’t blame you, I could hear it in your voice, you know, the curiosity, and a little fear. Are you afraid of me, Theo, now that you know that I really am?”

 

“I’m- I’m- Ugh, no, I’m not afraid of you, Mrs. Neve, I’m more scared of the stinking gun you have strapped to your waist there right on your leg… and while I’m not the brightest in terms of history, there’s one thing I do know- if there’s a gun around, chances are we’re going to need it. Is there something that’s going to happen that you know about?”

 

“It never hurts to be prepared, that’s all I can say. It’s why I haven’t filed my claws in nearly a year.”

 

“Wait, do you keep the claws? And when, if you don’t mind me asking, was the last time you were like this?”

 

“About two weeks ago, actually. There’s a reason I used to lock my bedroom door at night, and that was because I would take the bracelet off. Take good care of it, I’m probably going to need it again… the Sturgman don’t much care for me, not after what I did to their leader…”

 

“What? What’d you do?” Isaac asks her. “Oh, dear God and Karma, we’re going to die, aren’t we, we’re all going to die…”

 

“Isaac, my kit, you’re going to be fine, like I just told you a little while ago. Relax, I’ll keep you safe, each and every mammal knows that you never cross my kind, well, unless you like the idea of being torn to shreds, and there’s no better way to get torn to shreds than by pissing off an angry mother, especially an angry snow leopard mother, and in that case, after I call the ambulance crew to come patch you back together, I’d have to call a psychiatrist as well to make sure that your head’s alright…”

 

“Mom, I’m fine, really, you can stop worrying me now, okay? I’m good, really, I promise,” Isaac says to her, forcing a smile to his face.

 

“I’m going to come back there, Isaac, okay?”

 

“What, no?! I didn’t do anything, I’m sorry, Mom!”

 

“No, I’m sorry, Isaac,” Mrs. Neve says, poking a few buttons on the dashboard. “There, that should do it, the autopilot’s set, now I am coming back there,” she says, unbuckling herself from the seat, and I see Isaac shrink into himself as she does, but instead of the look of pure anger and hatred that I’m expecting to see in her eyes, I see softness and kindness, love instead of hate, and I’m thankful for that, see, I can be a good fox that earns those responses from people instead of just hatred.

 

“Isaac, honey,” Mrs. Neve says, crouching down on her haunches next to him, her tail (yep, nope, still not seeing things, my mother-in-law is still a snow leopard) brushing his arms, “you’re okay, I promise.”

 

“I know I am, Mom,” he says. “It’s just that this whole thing is a bit much for me, you know? I wish I had Alaina and Jenna and everyone else here with me. I’m lonely, you know? I don- I don’t know how to describe it,” Isaac says, putting a paw on his chest, right over his heart. “It- It’s like… i- it’s like half of my heart is missing because she’s not here… if she were here, I’d have the rest of my heart but since she’s not…”

 

“That’s normal, you know,” I say. “Jenna’s not here, so I’ve got pretty much the same thing going. We’re family mammals, Isaac, and without our mates here, it’s like we don’t have ourselves. It’s normal, you’re supposed to feel like that…”

 

“It hurts…,” Isaac says, whimpering. “I know, I know, sappy, sentimental wolf, I should be proud and strong, right, not the blubbering mess that I am, right?”

 

“Isaac, seriously,” I say, getting a glimpse out the window and realizing that we’re nearing the Bridge, going back across to the Terran side, and it’s then that I notice that there are guard ships lining the edges, blocking us from going through, and from the looks of things, those are Sturgman ships, not Terran ships.

 

“Um, Mrs. Neve,” I say, my voice tiny and quieter than I thought that it was going to be and way, way, _way_ too afraid for my own good, “you realize that there are Sturgman ships blocking us from getting through, and this ship has Terran markings, right?”

“Yeah, I realized that,” Mrs. Neve says, her voice calm and cool and collected, and I don’t know how that’s humanly possible.

 

Oh, wait, that’s right, it’s not, and that’s because this is a ship full of anything but humans, and I hope that Tony and Calvin don’t mind if and when they get interrupted doing each other in the cargo bay, which might happen sooner rather than later if we’re actually going to freaking go through with this.

 

As we pull closer to the Bridge, I see that the stations around it, one at each quarter turn, are staffed by Terrans, thank whoever may be listening to the prayers of another fox, although there are Sturgman overseers in the backs of the stands, if that’s what they can be called, they’d be more aptly described as slave drivers.

 

“So,” Mrs. Neve says, glaring at all of us, “you’re going to have to pretend to be slaves, okay? Put these on,” she says, passing several pairs of pawcuffs out to all of us. “Chain yourselves together, too, convince them,” she says, and we do, chaining our paws together until we’re all in one line.

 

“Okay, we’re here,” Mrs. Neve says, and I can see that she’s pawcuffed herself to the steering column, and I hear a voice crackle over the intercom, cold and rattling, unlike any other that I’ve heard before.

 

_“Prej mik Teranksi nejy?”_ it asks. _“Are those Terrans with you?”_

 

_“Josy, o ist Terranski lukchask, deramat i carktel,”_ Mrs. Neve replies. _“Yes, they are, we’re Terran captives, heading to prison.”_ So cheesy, I’m shocked he buys it, but then I see his wink and quick salute.

 

_“Bet i u visk, Warmt,”_ he says, causing my jaw to drop. _“Nice to see you, Ma’am!”_

 

_“Di et subrejkt?”_ I ask her in as much of a whisper as I can manage, the words feeling weird coming out of my mouth, even though it’s the language I grew up speaking. _“You know him?”_

 

_“Josy, uo kuftrejy aegt biwe ari. Y kiurt esk Sturgan virw ar subrejkt, oa efs luset, Y rewe e kurt i tar.” “Yes, we fought together years ago. I guess the Sturgman army got him, now be quiet, I have a job to do.”_

 

_“Of course,”_ I say, switching back to speaking human, trying to wrap my mind around what just happened, making sure that we’ve cleared the radio contact range of the Bridge before I say anything else.

 

“So where to?” I ask, my mind still spinning, spinning, spinning, right along with everyone else’s.

 

“Where do you think we’re going, Theo?” she asks. “Home, of course.”

 

“In that case, Mrs. Neve,” I say, “we need to turn around and head back to Earth. Terra’s never really been a place that I want to stay.”

 

“Unfortunately, Theo, we’re not going to be able to pull that one twice, the guard changes every hour or so, and we’re not going to be back for probably a week or more, and that’s assuming we get very, very, _very_ lucky.”

 

“So is that an Earth week or a Terran week?” I ask, hoping the panic in my voice isn’t obvious, but knowing that of course it is, and hating it.

 

“Theo, quit freaking out about that, okay? Your body gets used to living slower pretty quickly, and it doesn’t like to speed back up. You’re going to live a long, long normal life, that is, if we get ourselves back alive, but that’s a given.”

 

“What, that we’re going to die? Gee, thanks, we’re screwed, you’re screwed-”

 

“So are Tony and Calvin,” Isaac says, and all of us, myself included, bust out laughing. “But seriously, everyone,” he says, “we’re going to be fine, I promise, from the most anxious mammal that you’ll ever meet.”

 

“You’re the most anxious mammal, Isaac?” I ask. “I thought that that was supposed to be my job, to be that most anxious mammal, but heck, if you want the job, I’d be more that glad to sign over the deed to my anxieties and worries and inane fears, I don’t even want them anymore anyways.”

 

“So then why do you keep them?” Isaac asks, and that shuts my mouth.

 

“Honestly, Isaac, mam, I have no idea,” I say. Great point, by the way, seriously great point.”

 

“Thanks, Theo,” Isaac says, smiling at me. “Love ya, bro.”

 

“You too, Isaac. We’re family, don’t forget that.”

 

“I’m not planning on ever forgetting,” Isaac says. “So, Mom, how long until we’re going to land this stinking thing? I’m getting sick of riding in this stinking spaceship.”

 

“I’m pretty sure we all are, Isaac,” Mrs. Neve says, and it’s still taking my eyes a while to realize that there’s _supposed_ to be a snow leopard’s tail coming from her backside, “so you’ll be grateful that we’ll be on the ground within about half an hour.”

 

“So we don’t have to pass any checkpoints or anything?” I ask Mrs. Neve, and she shakes her head.

 

“There aren’t any, Theo, that’s part of the problem. We’re taking advantage of it now because we can, but there really should be a shield of some sort around the planet. I guess that that’s one of the paradoxes of being a planet that’s almost always, if not always at war, you know you need a shield for the planet to keep it safe from attacks, but because the planet’s always under attack, there’s never any time to build one and get it up.”

 

_That’s got to suck, really,_ I think. _And I lived on this planet for most of my life, and how did I not realize that it was this bad? Oh, wait, I know that answer, and I really, really,_ ** _really_** hate that I do; it’s because I’ve always been so caught up in my head to notice what else was going on in the world. Granted, I _have_ been trying to change that over the course of the last several months, and I swear that I’m going to stay positive, no matter what scat I’m going through. I can do it, I will do it, I’ll keep doing it!

 

“To answer your question, though, Theo, no, there aren’t any checkpoints, and actually, we’ll be landing soon,” Mrs. Neve says, and then she starts tapping a dial on the control panel, and my heart sinks.

 

“What’s wrong now, Mrs. Neve?” I ask her, trying to fight the panic that I feel rising up in my chest and fighting it back down. _No, you are not going to have a panic attack, Theo, you are stronger than that. You can do this._

 

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Mrs. Neve says, her tail twitching back and forth, back and forth, back and forth behind her.

 

“That’s a crock of scat if I’ve ever heard one,” Isaac says, now worriedly twisting the end of his tail between his fingers. “So what is it really, Mom?”

 

“Isaac, it’s exactly what I said, and that’s nothing, okay? You’re going to be fine, I’m going to be fine, we’re all going to be fine. It’s just that one of the dials stopped working for a sec, it’s not one we really need, so like I said, you’re going to be fine. Oh, and speaking of being fine, Isaac, we’re nearly here,” she says, and as soon as she does, the door to the cargo bay clangs open, and out come Tony and Calvin with the Worlds’ biggest plastered grins on their faces. Let’s just say that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what they’ve been doing, I mean, even a human would be able to smell it on them…

 

“So I take it we’re here?” Calvin says, tucking his tail back through the hole in the back of his pants, looking around anxiously to see if anyone’s looking at him funny, although I don’t know why anybody would, it’s not like a), we haven’t done pretty much the exact same things ourselves, I mean, we do have tails, and b), believe me, it’s pretty hard to resist urges sometimes. I know the feeling.

 

“Yeah, we are,” Mrs. Neve says, and I can see that we’ve landed at what looks like an airport, but I have no idea what airport it could possibly be, because I don’t recognize where we are.

 

“So where are we, anyways?” I ask. “Sorry, I just don’t recognize where we are, it’s so different, the trees are all burnt, the air smells like burning ozone, the grass is brown… seriously, what are we doing here, and where exactly _is_ here, anyways?”

 

“Your hometown, Theo,” Mrs. Neve says. “You know, there’s a reason you two got sent to Barre on Earth, and that was because your hometown is Terra’s copy of it…”

 

“This is my hometown?” I ask, incredulous. “So where are all of the mammals? Where’s all the noise? The only thing that I can hear, aside from what I’m saying, is the damn droning of whatever’s flying over us…”

 

“Those would be planes, Theo, we’re on another planet at war right now.”

 

“Scat, what did I get myself into?” I mutter under my breath, though, in hindsight, it wouldn’t have made a difference how I said it or not, everyone has great hearing.

 

“A royal fricking mess, Theo,” Mrs. Neve says, and she doesn’t seem quite settled.

 

“What’s wrong, Mama?” Isaac asks her, his face creased with worry and concern.

 

“They should’ve noticed by now,” Mrs. Neve says. “They’re never not watching, so where are they?”

“Where are _what_ , Mrs. Neve?” Calvin asks, voicing everyone’s silent question.

 

“The guards, the soldiers, the whoever… I just don’t feel safe-”

 

“And nor should you,” says a wolf who comes walking out of the shadows, gun drawn, his gun the same kind of gun Mrs. Neve has. “You all smell weird, so you’re not from near here, are you? Wait a second, you speak human?”

 

“And so do you,” I say. “Please don’t kill us, I don’t want to die…”

 

“Tell me who all of you are, and then maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you live…”

 

“T-Theodore Aspen,” I say, hating the stutter. “Commander of Camp Ethan Allen, Hundred and Thirty-Sixth Earth Army Division… Barre, Vermont, please don’t kill us I don’t want to die…”

 

“Wait, did you say Barre?” the wolf asks, and I nod.

 

“How do you know where that is?” Mrs. Neve asks. “Who the fuck are you?” she asks, snarling as she draws her own gun.

 

“I- I-” the wolf stutters, his paws starting to shake. “I’ve been looking for my sister… all the records I could find said she was in Barre…”

 

“And why’s it your business?”

 

“Because she thinks I’m dead!” the wolf says. “After my mom died, she fell apart… last I knew she was given up for adoption…”

 

“And you are?” Tony asks, eyebrows raised.

 

“J- J- James,” the wolf stutters, and it’s then that I realize who this wolf is...

 

“Oh dear Karma,” I mutter. “You’re James Lupa, aren’t you? What luck….”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m James,” the wolf says, his tail starting to wag excitedly like Isaac’s. “Why, do you know…”

 

“I’m her brother,” I say. “Well, not biologically, but- ugh, I sound like a professor… she and I got adopted together, and actually, she’s back on Earth, and we might need your help…”

“N-nice to meet you, by the way, and t-thanks for not killing me back there…”

 

“You’re welcome… mammal, I hate to say this, but Alaina thinks you’re dead…”

 

“Yeah, shit, I thought probably. How old is she now, anyways?”

 

“Sixteen, why, how old are you?”

 

“Um… I was six years younger than her, but... I’m seventeen now…”

 

“Okay then… that’s a little odd… then again, time’s like that…”

 

“Odd? Yeah, so um, what the heck are you guys doing here?” James asks, and I can see Isaac trying to stop a smile from coming to his face at the look on James’s; it’s almost a carbon copy of Isaac’s.

 

“Yeah, um, about that,” Tony says, looking back and forth between all of us, “um, do you know why Terra’s at war with Earth, and why the heck they’re bombing the shit out of our planet?”

 

“You really aren’t a Terran anymore, are you?” James asks, and Tony shakes his head. “Can’t say that I ever really was, so are you going to answer the question or not? And besides, how are any of us even sure we we can trust you? Just a few minutes ago, he was trying to shoot us, so,” he says, pulling his pistol again and aiming it right at this wolf’s head before any of us can stop him, “why don’t we shoot him before he gets the chance to? Hmm? One for the price of many?”

 

“Tony!” Mrs. Neve cries in shock as Tony doesn’t seem to waver or change his mind, and she draws her own gun on him…. Oh, scat, scat, scat… well, we’re fucked…

 

“Anthony Jubatus!” she says in one last desperate attempt to stop him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Just making sure we’re safe,” Tony says, finally dropping his gun, but not before Isaac uses his own gun, which, to be honest, I didn’t even realize that he had on him, to shoot Tony through the arm, and well, yeah, now we’re really fucked…

 

“Okay, what the hell is going on here?” I ask as I rush to Tony’s side, pulling off my uniform top to expose the t-shirt underneath and then taking that off and turning it into strips to be used as bandages as quickly as I can.

 

“Okay, Tony,” I ask, thankful that the bullet went all the way through Tony’s arm, not deeply, also good, “What the hell was that about?”

 

“I- I just wanted to make sure,” Tony says, wincing as I tie bandages that are slowly being stained red around his arm. “I just wanted to make sure…”

 

“And did you even think about the fact that all of us were going to take you out if you didn’t drop the gun?”

 

“Just shoot me then,” Tony says, pushing my arms away and trying to tug off the bandages that I’ve managed to tie on before I slap him as hard as I can, not caring, in my anger, that my claws were out and that I’ve just gashed his cheek. “My father started it, you can finish it, Theo, go right ahead.”

 

At that, I feel something inside of me snap, not so much in anger like I was expecting to feel, but mostly just hatred now, and not even hatred of a certain cheetah kneeling in a puddle of his own blood, but of myself, that I was willing to do it, even for just a split second there, that I would have killed him, and I can tell that he knows it, and I drop to my knees, sobbing.

 

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” I ask, hating myself more that I ever thought was possible. “I- I-...”

 

“Do you want a paw up, Theo?” Tony asks, getting to his paws shakily and unsteadily, and I can see a few drops of blood in the fur on his cheek. _Shit._

 

“No, Tony, just leave me here, okay? I can get up on my own,” I say, pushing myself to my paws, letting the tears just drop instead of trying to fight them away like I would usually do. “Damn, and here I thought that I was a good mammal…”

 

“Theodore,” Tony says, taking hold of my arm as I try to turn away, “you’re not going anywhere, now,” he says, giving my own cheek a hard slap. “So are you going to finish the job or not?”

 

“No, Tony, I’m not going to finish the fucking job, okay? You want to? Go right ahead, but you’d better not, because then Calvin would follow. We’re leaning on each other here now, whether we want to or not, and you’re not going anywhere until I can get you healed up? Got that?”

 

When he doesn’t answer, I look him straight in the eyes. “Got that?” I ask, knowing that I’m snarling, and not caring.

 

“Of course, Theo,” Tony says, whimpering. “Please don’t hurt me…”

 

“Anthony, really? Now come on, let’s get you checked out,” I say, leading him back to the rest of the group and handing the gun and bullets (emptied out of the chamber) to Mrs. Neve. “He got shot, and we’re going to need to get him some help soon, he doesn’t look good.”

 

“Here, I’ll take care of him,” Mrs. Neve says. “Come on with me, Tony, let’s get you checked out, okay? Theo, put a shirt on…”

 

“Oh geez,” I mutter, pulling my uniform top back on as quickly as I can. “Sorry, Mrs. Neve, and sorry about my friend there, James…”

 

“I- It’s fine,” he says, and I see him crumble inside. “What’s with him? Why- why’d he try to kill me? He’s a Terra too, isn’t he? Aren’t all of you?”

 

“Long story short, not really, James. I was born here, but I went on exchange with your sis about an Earth year ago, so you would’ve been what, four?”

 

“Round about, yeah, why?”

 

“Because Earth’s under attack, and everyone’s blaming Terra and Terrans, and-”

 

“Uh, fuck no, it’s not the Terrans,” James says. “Believe me, I know, I’ve lived on this planet my entire life, and it isn’t us, we’d never do anything like that…”

 

“Yeah, well,” I say, “the humans don’t seem to believe that. That’s why there’ve been so many ships launched for Terra over the course of the last several months- Earth months, that is.”

 

“Yeah, well, like I said, it’s not us, Theo. Random question- if Alaina’s your sister, is that just what you call her, or is she, well, you know?”

 

“The host family that took us in adopted both of us, so yes.”

 

“Does that make me your-”

 

“If you want to be. You’d be the oldest, you know.”

 

“Really? How old are you? You look a little older than me…”

 

“Dude, I’m a year younger. I’m only sixteen.”

 

“Really?” he asks, tail curled up into the question-mark shape that I so often see Alaina’s in whenever she’s feeling frustrated or curious.

 

“Yeah, really. Time passes slower on the other side of the Bridge, you know.”

 

“No, I didn’t know,” James says. “So seriously, what’s been going on on your side of the Bridge? How’s my sister?”

 

“Scared for her life and pregnant, actually.”

 

“So who got lucky?” James asks. “Was it anyone I know?”

 

“Dude, we just met, and just a few minutes ago, you were trying to kill me, so I’m going to say no, unless you know an Isaac Neve…”

 

“Neve? Like the son of Corporal Neve? Bianca Neve?”

 

“The very one,” Isaac says, smiling at all of us. “My mom’s actually here, if you want to say hi. Did you you she’s a snow leopard?”

 

“Uh, yeah, of course I did,” James says. “You didn’t? And you knew her for how long?”

 

“Fifteen Earth years… this doesn’t make any sense, why don’t the times line up?”

 

“Look, you’re asking me? By all accounts, I should be thirty, not sixteen. I don’t get it either, man.”

 

“And nor should you,” says a voice from above us that I’ve come to dread, and I look up to see the same kind of creature that was pretending to be my sister back on Earth, complete with a cigarette burning hot red-orange in the corner of his mouth, and of fucking course, now it makes sense, all of those times where things didn’t make sense, when he didn’t seem quite like he was human, when he just kept quite literally popping in and out of places. What makes it even freakier is that he still has the same face, too, more or less.

 

“But since you couldn’t figure it out, Theo, this is where I get off,” he says, grinning maniacally.  “You’ll see me again later, _fox,_ ” he snarls. “But for now, Theodore, keep watching over your shoulder, keep watching, I’ll be back soon enough. You know, I thought you were going to be stronger than this, but you’re just proving me right time and time and time again. I’ll see you again, Theodore, but for right now, this, Mister Aspen, is where I get off.”

 

As soon as he says that, he snaps his fingers, and a cold breeze blows through, chilling me to the bone.

 

“Did you guys all see that?” I ask, my head spinning crazily, and I’m doing my damned hardest not to freak out, it was Mister Marlboro again, of course of course of fucking course, but of course, James is just freaked out, and he dives into my arms, trying to shield his eyes from whatever else might come.

 

“T-Theo, who the flock was _that_ , and why do you know him? Or, rather, why does _he_ know _you_?”

 

“Let’s just say that that was my former principal and leave it there. On second thought, though, I’d better explain a little more. See this scar here,” I say, pointing to the jagged line that runs down the back of my right ear and down my neck, “that’s from where that asshole decided that I would look good after he’d thrown me into the floor and then broken my ribs. I can’t say that I’m much of a fan of his. You know, I had that sinking feeling, too, that feeling that he wasn’t quite human…”

 

“So now we actually know that he’s not…” James says, and I can feel him shaking in my arms like a little kit.

 

“James, bro, do you need a pet on the ears?” I ask him, and he nods, and I feel my heart hurt, remembering how I would’ve been in James’s shoes just a few short (but way too long feeling) months ago.

 

“Here,” I say, giving him what he asks for, a pet behind the ears, and I feel all of the stress drain out of him. I may be the younger of all of us, and I may have just met him, but he already feels like a brother to me, and a little brother, almost like he’s no more than a kit. I suppose that’s what either always being terrified and under siege from who knows what when you live on Terra or just the fact that, despite the fact that he’s a year older, I’m taller than him by a paw and a little that makes him seem so young. He’s also Alaina’s brother, and being that Alaina’s my sister, that makes this wolf my brother, my family too.

 

“Thanks,” James says. “So call me stupid, but what’s your name again, and what am I getting myself into if I come with you guys? Please let me come with you, I’m hungry and starving and freezing,” he says, rubbing his paws down his sides as he shivers. “I don’t even care about the darn cheetah, he had a point, it’s just something that I’ll have to live with, but then again, I won’t be living for much longer if I have to stay on this fricking planet.”

 

“Well, then pretty much your only option is to come with us,” Calvin says, coming over to us, and I can see the panic in his eyes as well, and if it’s in his, then I’m sure it’s in mine as well.

 

“I’m sorry about my boyfriend there,” he says. “I don’t know what came over him, but I overheard what you and Theo here were talking about. Do you know who that guy was?”

 

“Yeah, I do….” James says, whimpering slightly, and it makes me feel even worse for him.

 

“You do?” I ask. “By the way, sorry, I forgot to tell you my name like you asked me to, I’m Theodore. You can call me Theo if you want, pretty much everyone does?”

 

“Does my sister?” James asks, looking at me, the white patches on his cheeks stained with tears, and I feel that same pang of pain once again, this wolf is Alaina’s brother, and he looks just like her too, just smaller, with the same gray fur and white cheeks, but his eyes are more of a piercing icy blue in comparison to Alaina’s, which are more green, except when she’s ticked off at this fox, and then I swear to high heaven that they glow red in anger.

 

“Yeah, James,” I say, snapping me out of my thoughts, “yeah, she does.”

 

“Then is it okay if I call you Theo too?”

 

“Any brother of Alaina is a brother of mine,” I say, “so yeah, of course you can call me Theo, James. You know, your sister is a wonderful mammal, and she’s an even better friend, and yeah, I call her my sister because that’s what she is to me. All of the mammals here are my family, and let me guess, you’re a little lacking in that department? No offense meant, of course…”

 

“None taken,” James says, wrapping me in an enormous hug. “So what the hell was that thing, and what does it want with you?”

 

“Um, I have no freaking clue what it wants with me, and it’s called a Sturgman, from what I’ve been told, and um… I have no freaking clue what it wants with me, other than it wanting to take my life and all… it _was_ pretending to be my principal for a little while there, and then after that, I’d heard that he was the director of NASA back on Earth, you know, they’re the people responsible for sending people to Earth’s moon, but there’s no way that was possible. All I can really manage to figure out about the guy is that I can’t figure anything out at all…”

 

“Yeah, me neither, other than he’s a despot whose favorite activity is to wreak havoc on us dumb mammals here.”

 

“You mean he was here on Terra?” I ask, not quite believing what I’m hearing, but then again, that makes sense that he would be, all the better for him to try and crush the weak points between the strengths. Not to call this wolf weak even in the slightest, because he looks like he’s a lot tougher than I am or probably can ever be.

 

“Yeah, just about a year ago,” he says, and I do the math- one Terran year is the same number of days as one year on Earth, three hundred sixty-five, and if time passes about fifteen times faster here…. Dang it, I suck at math. I should ask a rabbit to figure it out, they’re a lot better at multiplying. No, wait, I’m trying to divide.

 

All awful puns aside, though, that makes sense. One Terran year is round about three and a half Earth weeks, which means Mister Marlboro was on Terra while I was in the hospital back at home on Earth. Then again, though, I hadn’t seen him in what felt like forever, and I’m glad that I didn’t, because I think I probably would’ve died of a heart attack when I ran into him again.

 

“So what do we do now?” James asks me, looking at me with pleading in his eyes, and yep, there go the heartstrings again, yanked and played hard, check and check, yep yep!

 

“We go check on Tony and see how he’s doing, okay? I promise he won’t try to hurt you, I’m going to make sure of it!” I say, smiling at James and seeing him smile back.

 

“I’m glad,” James says, and we walk over to where Mrs. Neve is taking care of Tony, and I can tell that she’s a little ticked off at him from how her tail is twitching angrily at him.

 

“So, Mister Jubatus-,” Mrs. Neve begins, but then Tony cuts her off with an angry wave of his paw.

 

“Tony Felix, Mrs. Neve, if you don’t mind, I don’t want any more to do with that furry scumbag than I already had to.”

 

“Sorry, Tony,” Mrs. Neve says, tying one last bandage around his arm and then looking him straight in the eyes. “But if _you_ don’t mind, would you care to tell us why you were going to shoot the wolf that Theo’s walking with?”

 

“I- I- I-,” Tony stutters, and then he starts to cry again, and I hear him cursing himself under his breath. _“You’re such a failure,”_ he tells himself. _“Your father knew it, and that’s why he tried to get rid of you. Why couldn’t you just have done it? Why couldn’t you have stood up to him? It was his idea to fucking begin with, and it was only then… only then…”_

 

“Only then _what_ , Tony?” I ask him, and he jumps a good foot and a half off of the ground before crashing back down, and from the _thump_ that I hear, it doesn’t sound much like he managed to land lightly.

 

“Yeep!” Tony says as he lands. “How- how- how did you hear that?”

 

“Fox, remember? I’ve got good ears, I can hear pretty much anything.”

 

“I’m not going to say,” Tony says, fighting the frown off of his face. “All I ever do is manage to draw all of the attention to me, and I don’t like it.”

 

“Well, by trying to avoid all of our attention, Tony,” Calvin says, “you’re bringing it all onto yourself. Do you not like wolves or something? I mean, as your mate and all, I think I kinda deserve to know… I am, after all, a wolf…”

 

“Let’s just say, Calvin, that, um… my family life wasn’t great, and well, there was this one wolf friend of my dad’s that really, and I mean like _really_ hated me. I’m not going to say any more to that effect. You figure out the rest and we’ll be good, right? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m trying to tune out the damn pain in my shoulder where, because I was feeling stupid, I got myself shot, and I deserved it, okay? Oh, and look, man,” he says, looking at James, “I’m sorry, you can hit me if you want, I won’t bite, I promise.”

 

“I’m not going to hit you, Tony, that wouldn’t make me the better mammal, you know, that’s what my sis taught me. You know her, don’t you? Alaina Lupa?”

 

“Well, she’s Alaina Neve-Lupa now, she got married a few Earth months ago to another wolf by the name of Isaac Neve.”

 

“And does that make Mrs. Neve-”

 

“Not biologically, James,” Mrs. Neve says. “Wrong species, but yes, I’m their mother, and Isaac over there is my son,” she says, pointing a finger at the aforementioned tan wolf.

 

“Why does he look like a dog?” James asks, and it’s all I can do to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing before it slips out.

 

“Don’t ever, ever, _ever_ let him hear you call him that,” I say. “He’ll have your hide- not literally, of course…”

 

“But he does look like one, seriously though,” James protests.

 

“Yeah, he does, believe me, but he gets mistaken for one more often than people realize that he’s an actual wolf, so it kinda sets him off when people says that.”

 

“So when’s the next battle?” Mrs. Neve asks, cleaning Tony’s wounds once more and then pulling a needle out of a bag. “Tony, this is gonna hurt, but it’ll stop any possible infection in its tracks, and it’ll help you heal faster, because believe you me, we’re going to need it.”

 

“Um, I don’t know,” Tony says, wincing as Mrs. Neve sticks his shoulder with the needle, and I see it sink in almost an inch, and damn it, that has to hurt!”

 

“You okay there, Tony?” James asks, looking at him, and Tony nods.

 

“Yeah, just sore and tired, but I’ll be good.”

 

“That’s good,” I say.

 

“If you don’t mind me asking,” James says, his tail wagging slightly, and I can see Isaac smile at the sight, “how are all of you related, anyways?”

 

“Well, biologically, none of us are, but I got sent on exchange with your sister and we got adopted by our host families back on Earth, the Maranzas, so we’re brother and sister. When we were on Earth, we met Mrs. Neve’s adopted son and daughter, Jenna, my mate and wife, and Isaac, the screwball you’ve already met, who just got married to his mate, aka my sister. Tony’s our best friend from school, and the brown wolf who’s always with him is his boyfriend, Calvin.”

 

“Boys can like boys?” James asks, head tilted and ears cocked.

 

“Sure, why not? If you love someone, shouldn’t you be able to be with them?”

 

“That’s fair to me,” James says. “Sorry, I really hate how I’m so out of the loop here, but Terra’s kinda fallen a long, long, _long_ ways behind Earth, I take it.”

 

“Don’t blame yourself, James,” Calvin says, smiling at him.

 

“Oh, I’m not, believe me,” James says, “It’s just that that’s yet another reason for me to get off of this freaking planet, presuming I survive, that’s all, and that creepy guy didn’t sound too fond of the idea of any of us getting out of this alive…”

 

“We’re going to be fine, bro,” Isaac says. “Believe me, we get it, we really do. You’re terrified, that’s great, so are we. I know I am, I’m sure Tony and Calvin are, what about you, Theo?”

 

“Scared shitless, if I’m being completely honest…”

 

“Wonderful, so we’re all in this together.”

 

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Mrs. Neve says. “Like we should always be.”

 

“Leave it to Mrs. Neve to always be able to find the positive in things,” I say, pretending to pout. “I thought that it was a fox’s job to be miserable and cranky all the time and to always focus on the negative side of things…”

 

“Well sure, if you want to end up dead in a ditch somewhere, Theo, but I’m going to pass on that, how’s that sound?”

 

“Sounds great to me!” I say, trying to sound as happily sarcastic as possible. “Wait, you like the idea of ending up dead in a ditch? Help! Help! Crazy mammal here!”

 

“Yeah, that doesn’t surprise anyone, Theo,” Mrs. Neve says, wiping her paws on her pants, which leaves red marks, and I try not to gag.

 

“Sorry about that, everyone,” I say. “I’m not used to seeing blood, that’s all.”

 

“Yeah, well, you’re going to have to get used to seeing a lot of it pretty quickly, young reynard.”

 

“Reynard? I’m only sixteen, you know…, I’m still young enough…”

 

“Yeah, I know, but here’s the thing, Theo, you’re going to need to take on a little more responsibility here. I’m not trying to force anything on you, I promise, just don’t run away with your tail tucked between your legs, okay? I kinda mean that literally, Theodore, so I’ll promise you one thing- you don’t run away from what’s going on here, and we’ll always have your back. That sound like a fair trade?”

 

“Yeah, sounds good to me, Mrs. Neve,” I say. “So, um, if you don’t mind me asking, how’s Tony doing? And it’s okay that we bring another wolf along with our pack here, isn’t it?”

 

“I’m fine, really, I’m sorry I was stupid,” Tony says. “As long as the wolf in question doesn’t pull anything on us- guns, knives, stupid shit like that, I think we’re going to be good.”

 

“Sounds g-good to me,” James says, and then his face goes red in embarrassment. “I hate that, it always makes me sound like I’m not anything more than a little kit. I’m an adult, and here I am making a fool of myself. It’s annoying….”

 

“And seriously, you don’t don’t need to worry about it. We have bigger things to worry about, you know? I’m not trying to downplay anything that you’re worrying about, James, I promise…”

 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. So, um, once we get the heck out of here, would all of you be willing to come home with me? My family’s kinda easily freaked out, and if I don’t come back home to them soon, they’re going to be kinda pissed at me, you know?”

 

“Sure, but, um, if you don’t mind me asking, Alaina told me that both she was an orphan…”

 

“Well, she wasn’t lying, if that’s what you think,” James says, wincing, and I can see his ears flatten against his head.

 

“I’m sorry!” I say, trying to fix the mess that I’m more than making right about now… fuck, of course, can’t I ever have a filter?

 

“Theo, it’s okay, really, she wasn’t lying, like I said… I live in a shelter. It sucks tail, but there’s food and water and a roof over my head, and the Sturgman can’t bomb it without breaking the Geneva Convention, so it’s safe, at least for the time being. Safeguards or not, there’s going to come a time when they decide to fuck the laws and just start bombing the flocking hell out of everything. ‘Course,” he says, shaking his head sadly as his tail droops until it’s almost in the dirt of the path that we’re standing on, “they’ve almost done that already. But never mind that, come on, I’ll introduce you to my family!” With that, he tears off, and so do we, save for Tony and Mrs. Neve, who just limp along after.

 

Being the decent mammal that I am, I wait for them to make it to where we’re going, a small little cinder block building about half a _prerta_ away- in Earth terms, about a quarter mile before I start after, and by the time that I make it there, I realize that they’ve all returned the favor and waited for me.

 

“So let’s all just go in together,” James says. “And, um, it might be a good idea for you guys to take off your uniforms… we are kinda in the middle of a war here…”

 

“Unless you like the idea of us not having any clothes on when we go in,” Isaac says, smirking cheekily, “um, I’m keeping mine on, only Jenna gets that other side of me….”

 

“And thank you for that wonderful mental picture, Isaac,” Calvin says, wiping his eyes to clear the thought away.

 

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Isaac says. “But seriously, though…”

 

“Fine, then, just leave the gun outside, whoever has them.”

 

“If you insist,” Tony says, throwing his aside, and Mrs. Neve does the same, and then we all head in. I’m crossing my fingers in my pockets that we don’t get mobbed by angry mammals, I don’t want to get hurt.

 

Instead of getting mobbed, though, the exact opposite happens- everyone falls quiet, and I see a few of them pointing at out uniforms, talking nervously amongst themselves.

 

The silence lasts for what feels like forever until someone, an older-looking dingo at the back of the room, breaks it up with a loud cough. “So, Mister Lupa,” she says, “um, why in the fucking hell would you bring soldiers into our space here? And soldiers from Earth? That can’t be…. Why the hell? Are they Sturgman? You _would_ be stupid enough to fall for that, too, I know you would you stupid, stupid, _stupid_ pup!” she says, and before any of us can do anything to stop her, she’s taken the ruler in her and and she’s started beating James over the head with it, each whack making a loud _thump_ and eliciting a whine from the wolf…

 

“Okay, lady, that’s fucking enough,” I say. “Damn the little ears around, right now, I don’t care. You think you’re taking care of these mammals here? You’re pretty damn wrong, and if I have to go to the authorities and report you, so help me I will!”

 

“And they’ll do what, exactly?” the woman sneers at me, ruler still tightly clenched in her now-shaking fist. “He’s a wolf, everyone and everyone knows that they’re too stupid for their own good, isn’t that right everyone?”

 

“Yes they are, Missus Darin,” the class says, and I can see from the looks on their faces, several other wolves among them, that they’ve been beaten, more than definitely, into saying those words.

“So then everyone knows,” the dingo says, smiling maniacally at me, “that wolves are nothing more than dumb howlers. In that case, why would we trust them?”

 

“Because he’s my brother,” I say, fighting the shakiness and anger out of my voice but praying that it still has its bite.

 

“What?” the dingo asks. “A mutt like him brother to a bastard fox like you? Your parents must’ve really fucked up…”

 

“They weren’t perfect,” I say, “but they’re a damn heaping lot better than you could ever hope to be. Yes, he’s my brother, now leave him be!”

 

“What if I don’t want to, fox?” the dingo snarls, and I see her start to glow slightly…

 

That only means one thing…

 

She’s no damn dingo…

 

“Run!” I shout, turning around and bolting out of the door as quickly as I can, hating how Mrs. Neve was right, I do always run away…

 

Thankfully, though, everyone’s right on our tail…

 

_No damn pun intended!_

 

...and we make it back to the ship just in time to see the Sturgman almost on top of us, spectral eyes glowing bright red, and I only have a second to react- I whip out the watch that I always keep on me and throw it at her. It was my father’s anyways, I don’t want it anymore…

 

Thankfully for all of us, it beans her right in the head, causing her to stumble backwards for a second, and by that time, all of us are running again, running running running running running as fast as our legs will carry us back to safety and shelter of some sort. No, can’t go back to the school, too many dead there, that’d be for sure. Let’s see, can we get back to the ship?

 

Nope, no freaking way that that’s going to happen, nope, nuh huh.

 

So that means what? We’re pretty much in an open field here, and none of us have our weapons, and well, if we don’t die here, that’ll be great, because the Sturgman’s coming up on us, and then…

 

“Hey, you!” says a voice from behind us, and that takes the damn thing’s attention off of us for a split second.

 

“Yeah, you!” the voice calls again, and we all turn to see who it is, and when I do, my jaw drops.

 

It’s a fox dressed in full military garb, complete with even an ancient helmet and rifle, but that’s not what surprises me. Yes, the support’s great, but the person providing it? I flocking thought he was dead, but no, like I was told, he’s not dead, oh, no, no, I knew that, but now I can see it for myself.

 

_Okay, well, fuck._

 

_I’m going to have to kill him, aren’t I?_

 

_I really, really,_ **_really_ ** _don’t want to do that. Crook or not…._

 

_He_ is _still my father._

 

_Ain’t that a kick to the head?_

 

_Yeah, it really is._

 

Before I can think anything else, though, the fox (I’m just going to call him that because I can’t really bring myself to call him anything but, especially not address him as my father, not after what he put all of us through...) fires off a shot at the creature who’s been waiting behind us, and I hear the creature roar in pain. A few shots later (all eliciting the same response out of the creature), the fox stops, blows away the smoke that’s arcing from the muzzle of the gun, and then stops to take a look at all of us, the creature gone, hopefully dead.

 

“Well,” he says, waving a paw in beckoning, “are you going to come over and say hello, or am I just making myself look like a fool in doing this and exposing myself?”

 

“Hello, father,” is all I can bring myself to say in response. “So should I kill you here or wait? If I wait, I’m going to just aim for somewhere just as painful and less deadly. Take your pick, or I’ll pick first. I hear you’re helping them now, so who’s the bastard? My vote’s for you, Matthew,” I snarl, spitting on the ground, feeling anger, red, red hot anger start to boil up inside of me before I can stop it, and you know what? Screw stopping it, this mammal flocking abandoned me and my mom and left us all to die, and then I find out he’s a traitor?

We all know what happens to traitors…

 

They die, plain and simple.

 

I don’t want to do this, but it feels like I’m going to have to…

 

“Theo, wait, please,” my father pleads. No, I can’t call him that, he’s nothing to me any more…

 

“And what for? To hear you spill out some lies about how it’ll all be fine if I give up and just drop the knife I have? You’re right, it won’t be deadly, but it’ll hurt like fucking hell, I can promise you that…”

 

“And you know what, Theodore?” he asks me, turning an even more vicious version of my snarl on me.

 

“What?” I gulp, realizing that I’ve really, really, _really_ flocked up now…

 

“I’m more than willing to return the favor, so I’ll make you a deal, how’s that sound?”

 

“Pretty damn awful,” I say.

 

“Well, it’s going to be the either take it or leave it sort of thing…”

 

“Go on…”

 

“Well, here’s the thing, _son_ ,” he snarls, the ice in his voice making my own blood run cold, “see, that thing out there, the one in charge, he and I have a deal…”

 

_Well, fuck…_

 

“Go on,” I say, feeling a warm wet spot starting to grow at the front of my pants, and I realize that I’ve just wet myself like a kit….

 

“Either you come with me and then maybe, just maybe, all of you die, but you’d still have the tiniest sliver of a chance to come out of it still living, or I can just kill you all here. Your choice, I’m still getting my fair payment either way. Take your pick.”

 

_I can’t choose… yep, that’s a pretty freaking painful blow, and damn it, right to the head._

_We’re screwed!_


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Are You, Are You? (Coming To The Tree?)

Chapter Fifteen: Are You, Are You? (Coming To The Tree?)

 

Trying to ignore the shame that I feel and the wet spot right  _ there _ , I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves, which are shot to the point that I don’t think that they’ll ever ever recover from, trying, trying,  _ trying _ not to look even more like a complete fool and knowing that there’s no hope of that ever happening, especially not when I look like this…

 

“So what’s the consensus? Have all of you made up your minds, or am I going to have to make them up for you?” Matthew Aspen says, and I really, really,  _ really _ just want to leap on him and have it done with, but I can tell that he’s a lot stronger than me, and besides, I’m pretty sure that he isn’t entirely Terran anymore… he’d make mincemeat out of us…. Damn it, now I’m hungry.

 

“Well, are you going to answer me or not?” he asks, his voice higher and angrier this time. “I don’t have much longer to wait, so either make up your minds and answer me or I kill you all. Plain and simple, it’s as easy as that. So what’s it going to be?”

 

“We’ll come with,” I say, looking everyone in the eyes, hoping that they’ll be able to see that I’m telling them that they’ll be okay, and they all not.

 

“Oh, and to think that I thought that this was going to be difficult,” he says, smiling maniacally, and I can’t help but wonder what the fucking hell happened to to him. The last time that I remember seeing him, he was just going off to war, and he was so much  _ saner _ , to say the very least, and I dread to think that I’m probably going to end up meeting the thing that screwed him over, yeah, I’m not really looking much forward to that.

 

_ “Oh, it might be, Dad, it might be,”  _ I say, hoping that I’ve managed to keep my voice quiet enough so that nobody’s going to hear us, and even my own sharp ears can barely pick up the sound of my own voice. I’m not complaining, of course, because lie I said, him not being able to hear me is exactly what I want.

 

Fuck, and here I thought that I was going to have a nice reunion with my father, who, need I remind anyone, I thought was dead. I even wear his fucking dog tags around my neck, and you know what? I really, really, really want to just tear these damn things off, but you also know what? I won’t, because they remind me that I can and I will be a better mammal…

 

Don’t be like him, in other words…

 

“What was that, Mister Aspen?” my father asks me, and I curse under my breath.  _ Flock, he did hear me… _

 

“Other than I’m not Theo Aspen anymore, you son of a bitch,” I say, unable to contain my temper any longer, “I’ll fight you to the end!”

 

“I’d welcome that,” he says, pointing the barrel of his gun right at my head, and I can see the little red dot of the laser pointer right between my eyes, “but you won’t really be able to fight if you’re missing half of your brain and nearly all of your skull. I’m going to give you ten seconds to decide, Theodore Michael,” he says, and for whatever reason, the cuts on my cheek choose that moment to hurt, making me yelp in pain.

 

Apparently, the son of a vixen who calls himself my father takes that as a sign of weakness, and he laughs. “That’s what I thought. You should know better than to let your guard down, now, come with me, or I’ll go for your friends and your girlfriend. Oh, wait, no… he says, his eyes catching sight of the silver band on my finger, “she’s your wife, isn’t she? Where is she? Is that her?” he asks, pointing a finger at Mrs. Neve, who cowers in fear, and that shocks me. Well, if she can’t be strong, then damn it, I’ll do it!

 

“NO, father,” I say, my voice harsh and biting, I’m sure, and really, I don’t have any flocks or fucks left to give, I ran out forever ago, “she’s my mother-in-law!”

 

“Oh, so you finally got to fuck someone, how nice,” my father says, and it’s all I can do to keep my cool, and I can tell that he knows it. “So who’s the lucky lady? Or guy? Heaven only knows, Earth could’ve bent you in more ways than one…”

 

_ Damn it, how is such an asshole of a mammal my father? _

 

“Oh, no, it’s a lucky lady,” I say, trying to keep his attention as long as possible, because I can see out of the corner of my eyes that everyone’s trying to sneak away, and I can’t fault them, if it wouldn’t get me killed, I’d be doing the exact same thing, but no, it’d get me killed if I tried to run away right now, so yeah, I’m staying where I am and giving them the chance. Maybe they’ll be able to distract him eventually, and then we’ll all be able to get away… yeah, no, that’ll never happen…

 

“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” I hear him say, but I’m not really paying attention, because I’m more interested in whether or not my friends and family get the flock out of here alive. “You know, father, one of my best friends is gay, so…. What the fuck’s your problem?”

 

“Oh, I’ve got plenty of problems, Theodore,” he says, snarling at me, and I try not to wince or yelp in shock, “and you’re definitely starting to prove to me that you’re going to be one of them. Why can’t you just accept that things are the way they are and just get the fucking hell out of my way? Why can’t you be a good boy and just sit and roll over like the dog you are? That’s right, I’ll bet you didn’t even think about that, did you? They’ve got you all trained and ready to fight, and they give you rewards if you do well, and I see you even wear a little silver collar there. Well, Theodore, news flash, you’ve been a bad boy! Now, here’s your list of options: behave like a good little foxy, and get the fuck out of my way, and then I might- I  _ might _ think about sparing the lives of all those you hold dear, or option number two, which is the option I’m leaning towards right now, if you want to know what’s on my mind, and that option’s just that I shoot the hell out of all of you right now, so how’s that sound?”

 

“Just take me,” I say, putting my hands behind my head and kneeling down on the ground, hating how the cold dampness of the ground and the water from the still-cold morning dew seeps through the knees of my uniform, and I can’t help but to feel completely weird, especially considering that I’m not wearing my uniform top.

 

“That’s the smart choice,” he says, coming over to stand in front of me. “I always knew you were smart, Theo, it’s why I helped you get approved for the Venturing Program, they never would’ve taken a fox otherwise. Too damn shifty, too freaking untrustworthy, they said, we can’t ever trust a fox. As if they didn’t realize that I was a fox, and I was the one paying them off to let you into that program.

 

“Damn, mammals are idiots sometimes,” he says, squatting right in front of me, and I can smell smoke on his breath, Camel cigars, just like Mister Marlboro. Of fucking course…

 

“You’re certainly a great example,” he says, gloating in my face, pressing the barrel of his gun into my shoulder, and this time, I don’t have to fight back a yelp, I’m used to that abuse.

 

“You’re right, father,” I say, smiling, hoping that all of my teeth are on display, sharp and white, a stark contrast to the brown and blackness that are my father’s teeth, rotten just like the freaking rest of him.

 

“Well, my son,” he says, words that send chills right through my core, “”I’m glad to see that you and I can finally see eye to eye about something.” Then he pauses, realizing something. “Wait, what exactly are we seeing eye to eye about again?”

 

“The fact that you’re an idiot who’s easily distracted,” I say, raking him across the face with my claws, and of course, because they’re dull, they don’t shred his eye out like I would have wanted to, but the pain serves its intended purpose, to distract him and get his attention mostly off of me so that I can throw him to the ground, and thank God that works. Now just to see how long it takes me to strangle him to death….

 

Before I get that opportunity, though, he bucks me off, throwing me to the side, and I hit the dirt, groaning as my shoulder rams first.

 

I try to roll over, but even with years and years and years of experience in paw-to-paw combat, the bastard’s still faster, and now he has his knee in my back, and I can see out of the corner of my eye that I’m giving everyone the distraction that they all need to get out of my psychopath of a father’s gun’s shooting range.

 

“So, Theodore,” he says, the bayonet of his gun digging my back, “when are you going to learn to be submissive like a good son of a bitch, hmm?”

 

“I’m not a son of a bitch!” I yell, heaving him off just enough so that I can turn over to face him head on. “My parents were married, though I have no fucking idea what happened to my father. Do you, Corporal? You know, don’t you, you were with him when he died, weren’t you? You were there when he decided to sell his soul, to give up on his family. Do you even know what happened to Mom? Huh? Do you? I bet you don’t!” I say, sneering at him, fighting the tears out of my eyes and I can smell iron… damn it, my nose is bleeding, and I’m sure that that’s far from the only place where I’m bleeding.

 

“Oh, I know what happened to her, sure I do, Theodore,” my father says. “I sold her the gun, but she wouldn’t have recognized me, she was too busy grieving over my jar of ashes…. Stupid vixen…. Of course, those were real ashes, I had to convince some guy to drive his car through a store to get the resources I needed, and well, another orphan wasn’t going to be suspicious, no, not at all, not when Terra was full of them. Who would miss the Lupas?”

 

“Their daughter,” I say, kicking him right where I know that it’ll hurt, right where it’d hurt any guy. “You know,” I say, racing for the gun that he drops as he crumbles, clutching his nuts in pain (honestly, I’m surprised that he still has any, given how much of a ball-less ass he is), “if anything,  _ Dad, _ ” I sneer, “I can thank you for one thing,” I say, aiming the pistol right at his head, more than ready to return the favor.

 

“What’s that?” he says, choking on his blood.

 

“Other than teaching me how to be vicious? Thanks for the sister, asshole, those wolves you killed? Those were Alaina’s mom and dad.”

 

“So what- gk- now, Theo? You have what you want, an opportunity to kill me, I’m not going to fight you. Believe you me, I know when I’ve been beat.”

 

“Whipped is more like it,” I say, taking his gun from where it’s lying on the ground next to us, and he doesn’t try to stop me. I know where I’m going to aim this, and believe me, it’s going to hurt a hell of a lot more than if I were to shoot him dead.

 

See, I said he had no balls, and now-

 

_ Bang! _

 

-he really doesn’t.

 

“So, father,” I say, deciding to hold onto the gun this time. “Look, I really didn’t want to do that, but, well, here’s the thing- maybe you can learn to quit screwing around, hmm?”

 

With that, I leave him behind, and my mind decides that it wants to call a halt to what’s going on here. _ Okay, wait, whoa, just wait a damn minute now here, Theo, what the hell are you doing? You’re not that kind of mammal, are you, the one who leaves those they hurt to die? _

 

_ For one thing, brain,  _ I reply _ , shut up. Right now, yeah, I know, but you think I care? He would’ve killed me! _

 

Gah, this is hard….

 

“Theo, wait!” the corporal cries out as I turn to walk away and leave him behind.

 

“What do you want, Matthew?” I ask him, hoping he can see that I really don’t want to listen.

 

“Don’t leave me here!” he says, trying to patch the hole and stop the bleeding. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or not whether he’s managing to stem it, but I kinda hope that he does manage it, so that way the lack of anything below can remind him how much of a coward he is.

 

“Why shouldn’t I?” I ask him, snarling and hating how it makes me feel; hate how it makes me feel just like him, a royal son of a bitch, and really, what makes me feel worse is that that feeling isn’t wrong, because I really am acting nasty, I’m a better mammal than this, I swear that I am…

 

“B- b- because I’m your father…” he says, and yeah, that’s just pathetic.

 

“If you wanted to be my father, Matthew, you shouldn’t have fucking abandoned me and Mom, okay? I was a fucking orphan for years until I left for Earth, that’s my home now, with my Mama and Papa, my sister and my mate… that’s home, not here, not with you. What the fuck even happened to you, anyways? You were a good mammal, now, what are you? Are you even the same mammal in body? You’re sure as hell not the same in spirit… so what’s the answer?”

 

“Honestly, Theodore-,” he begins, but I cut him off.

 

“You were always the one to insist I was Theodore. It’s Theo, father dear, just Theo… Theo Neve-Aspen. Get used to it. I’m not your little kit anymore, and you know what? I never really was. Maybe if you’d been around more, you know, but you weren’t, you were ‘dead,’ so yeah, I don’t really think that you have the right to say you were my father. You know, I used to think that you were a good mammal. Now, though, I’ve been wondering whether or not you’re even a mammal at all, or just a hollow, rotten out shell of  _ something _ whos just pretending to be a mammal.

 

“I’m not going to hurt you any more, just think about it. Believe you me, I really, really,  _ really _ want to, but unlike you, father, I have the restraint to not just always attack out of fear and anger. Have a great life, Matthew, and I’m sure we’re going to be seeing each other again some time later. So long, and next time, I’m aiming for your head.”

 

With that, I uncock the gun and put the safety on, and then shove the damn thing in my pocket. A horrible place to put it, for sure, but I don’t really have much in the way of better options, and I head back to where everyone’s staring at me in shock.

 

“What?” I ask. “What’s the big deal?”

 

“You shot your father, that’s the big deal!” Mrs. Neve says.

 

“And he would’ve shot me first, and in the head! I was just doing what was right!”

 

“Doing what’s right is completely different, Theo,” Mrs. Neve says. “You know, shooting someone? That’s usually not the right thing to do…”

 

“But it was either him or me!”

 

“And there’s going to be a lot more situations like that, Theo,” she says, “and pretty much all of them are going to be a hell of a lot harder than the one you just got out of. You know, he won there, not you. He got a reaction out of you, and it wasn’t that hard for him to do. I’ll bet you pretty much anything that he’ll go back to his buddies, wherever the hell they are, and he’ll tell them that you’re going to be an easy target. Prove them wrong from now on, okay?”

 

“Yes, Mrs. Neve,” I say, hating how my tail decides that it wants to tuck itself between my legs like I’m a kicked dog. I’m not a dog, I’m a freaking fox, but whether or not we’re known for not being entirely together (which, by the way, need I remind anyone, we’re not), I need to stay strong here. “Sorry…. I wasn’t thinking…”

 

“Damn straight you weren’t, Theodore,” Isaac says, growling at me, teeth bared, and I gulp. He’s stronger than me, he’s bigger than me, and level-headed to boot, way, way,  _ way _ more so than me. Yeah, okay, don’t cross the wolf.

 

“Isaac!” Mrs. Neve says, looking at him sharply, but Isaac doesn’t flinch. “Watch your mouth!”

 

“Sorry, it’s kinda hard to do that when people are being fucking shot, you know!”

 

“I said shut it!” Mrs. Neve says, lifting a paw to smack him, and Isaac flinches.

 

“Mama, please,” he whines, putting a paw to his head to protect the back of it from Mrs. Neve’s paw, which is hovering about six inches from his ears, “I didn’t mean anything, I’m a good boy, please don’t hit me, please no, I’m a good boy!”

 

“Bianca,” I say, sighing, “please, listen to him… he’s not wrong, I was the one who fucked up, if anything, I should be the one getting smacked, not him, please, Bianca, leave him alone! Why do you keep taking everything out on him? I’m the one who fucking shot my father, hit me!”

 

“What?” she asks, obviously confused, just like everyone else, who are all looking at me in a mix of shock and surprise.

 

“You have better ears than me, Mrs. Neve, please don’t tell me that you didn’t hear me…”

 

“N- no, I heard you just fine, Theo,” she says, frowning slightly, just barely, leaving the slightest wisp of sadness there and a slight crook to her ears. “But-”

 

“I screwed up, right? I’m pretty good at that…”

 

“Yeah, you screwed up, I don’t doubt that, but even still….”

 

“Leave Isaac alone, Bianca, okay? You’re as much of a good person as all of us. Paws off of the wolf, please, he didn’t do anything,” I say, pleading, feeling desperate. “Look, I get it, we’re stuck in a situation that none of us want to have anything to do with, but we’re here, and it’s all my fault, okay? I accept that. Isaac shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of your anger with me…”

 

“Is she always like this?” James asks, trying to hide and cower behind me, even though he’s taller than me.

 

“Only when she’s pissed off, and that doesn’t happen very often,” I say.

 

“G-good,” James stutters. “She’s gonna be my aunt, isn’t she?”

 

“Yep, that’s her,” I say.

 

“Oh, boy…”

 

“So what then, Theo?” Mrs. Neve says, and I don’t say anything, and she sighs.

 

“Damn it,” she curses, realizing something, panting heavily. “I- I- I just lost it again, didn’t I? I just snapped…. See, and this is what I get for what I did…”

 

“What did you do?” I ask, feeling a surge of panic rise up within me.

 

“One, it’s a little painful changing back and forth between species every night. Your body really starts to hate you, two, do you know that I killed tons and tons of Sturgmen? Yeah, I did, and one of my missions was to take out the head honcho, we all know who that is, and you can probably guess how that went, because now he wants his revenge…”

 

“You tried to kill Mister Marlboro?” I say, my voice nearly a shout, and I feel a stone drop  _ hard _ into my stomach when she nods.

 

“Great, and you didn’t tell us?”

 

“It wasn’t important at the time!”

 

“Yeah, well it’s important now!” I say, and then sigh. “I know I did the right thing there…”

 

“Yeah, you did,” she says. “You know what? I don’t know why I’m so on edge right now….”

 

“Because you’re a cat, okay? You’ve also been a human for forever, believe you me, if I try to cram my instincts down my throat, I gag on them. Isaac, are you okay, man?”

 

“A little hurt, that’s all, I’m used to it,” Isaac says, looking at his paws, and I can hear him start to cry.

 

“Isaac, what’s wrong?” I ask, going to sit next to him.

 

“I’m stuck on an alien planet, I’m scared, my anxiety won’t stop and shut up, there are crazy creatures trying to freaking kill us, I think I’m going to wet myself, my mate is a whole Universe away…. Oh, and I feel like a freaking failure because I can’t keep my head screwed on straight. Maybe you know the kind of feeling that I’m talking about, Theo?”

 

“All too well, Isaac,” I say, “all to freaking well. Do you want a hug?”

 

“Stupid wolf here,” he says, “but what’s a hug?”

 

“This,” I say, wrapping my arms gently around him and patting him on the back, “is a hug.”

 

“See, and I knew that, too,” he says, sighing. “Told ya I was stupid, just your normal dumb wolf…”

 

“And my brother-in-law, and Mrs. Neve’s son, and Alaina’s mate, and Jenna’s sister, and a wolf, and an all-around great mammal and great person, so take this advice, and I’ll take it myself, because you should always follow your own advice- relax, Isaac.

 

“Oh, and Mrs. Neve-?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Please don’t hit him… believe you me, we’re all freaking stressed out and beyond our limits already, I can see that, okay?”

 

“I’m hungry,” James says, interrupting me and Mrs. Neve before either of us get the chance to finish our conversation.

 

“And none of us brought any food with us, did we?” I ask, and Mrs. Neve sighs again and shakes her head.

 

“Yeah, no, no we didn’t,” Mrs. Neve says. “Alright, my bad… Theo, Alaina, do you have any idea where we can find food on this freaking planet?”

 

“Um, most Terrans grow gardens, maybe they’d be willing to share? Either that or my parents were insane doomsday preppers and there was a huge bunker in our back yard… if we’re lucky, it could still be safe to use whatever’s inside....,” I say.

 

“So how far to your house?”  Tony asks, and I point a finger right down the road that we’re on towards the collapsing brick two-story at the end of the road. Not that far… that’s it right there, actually. I betcha we could make it there in ten minutes if we ran…”

 

“Well, then I’ll race you!” James says, popping out from behind me. “I used to run for my school’s track team, back when, well, back when there was a school and a track to be run on… it got blown up a few years ago…”

 

“I’m really sorry to hear that James,” Mrs. Neve says, letting out another sigh. “Come on, let’s go… well, no, you guys go, I need to keep taking care of Tony here, so…”

 

“It’s alright, Mrs. Neve,” I say, sighing myself this time, “I’ll take care of this, you can stay here with Tony, okay? I’m taking Isaac with me, if you don’t mind…”

 

“No, not at all,” Mrs. Neve says, and I can see the look of relief on Isaac’s face as he runs over to join our little group, and we set off down the road, James taking the lead.

 

I wait until we’re out of Mrs. Neve’s earshot (which is a pretty long way, by the way) until I decide to ask Isaac the question that’s digging at me. “Isaac, why does your mom keep doing that to you? You didn’t do anything to deserve her being angry and you, and this isn’t the first time that she’s been like this…. Is she usually like this? I don- I mean, I like her, she’s my mate’s mom, she’s your mom, and you’re my sister’s mate, so… I don’t like seeing her treat you like that, Isaac… is there anything I can do to help? Believe me, I know, getting boxed upside the ears hurts like freaking hell… so why do you let her do it?”

 

“Maybe it’s because you didn’t have a family, really, Theo,” Isaac says, and then notices the hurt look that I have on my face. “I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it.”

 

“Yeah, I guess I do,” I say. “But you were saying, Isaac? It kinda looks to me, at least, and please, correct me if I’m wrong here, but it kinda looks to me like your mom just takes out all her anger on you… how the heck is that fair?”

 

“Like I said, Theo, maybe you’ve never had a family, but my family, at least the small one that I have, my mom, me, my sister, but we stick together. We’re a pack, really, and not for lack of a better term there. Wolves do that, and we treat everyone the way they deserve to be treated.”

 

“So that includes-”

 

“Yes, the alpha putting people in line. It hurts, but she wasn’t wrong to do it… believe me, I’ve heard of worse… you know, alpha wolves used to actually bite, but that’s illegal now… look, believe me, I know you think Mrs. Neve- my mom, she still is my mother, you know- I know you think she’s harsh, and believe me, she can be, but there’s never anything that she does without a reason behind it. Can we just, you know, drop this whole subject? I hate talking about it, because, well, everyone always assumes the same thing you did, okay? Most everybody, seriously, if they don’t know us… I can’t tell you how many times people have threatened to call the police on all of us…”

 

“That must be awful,” James says, and Isaac nods, smiling sadly at the wolf, who looks almost like a carbon copy of his sister. “Yeah, more or less. Anyways, can we get going here? This whole freaking planet is freaking me out.”

 

“We’re all freaking out, believe me,” I say, trying to hide my panic. I hate it that I can’t, though, and James puts a paw on my shoulder.

 

“You alright there, Theo? You’re freaking out and it’s making me freak out, and believe me, we’re all freaking the flock out!” James says.

 

“Yeah, um, I’m pretty good at that, just ignore me, come on, let’s go….!”

 

“Where are we even going?” James says, the smallest hint of a whine in his voice.

 

“Dude, aren’t you supposed to be leading us to your house?”

 

“Ugh, yeah, sorry, I’m a bit of a dumb wolf, you might’ve noticed that…”

 

“Hey!” Isaac says, hackles raised in anger. “Knock the scat, man! You’re fine the way you are, okay? You’re not stupid, far from it!”

 

“Yeah, right,” James says, stopping and taking a seat in the grass, not caring that he’s sitting on his tail and probably putting a crimp in it that’ll hurt like heck eventually. “I’m a wolf, nobody expects anything different from me… I’ve been dealing with it for all seventeen years of my life. Probably why I still act more or less like I’m a little it. It’s kinda hard to grow up when everyone automatically sees ‘oh, well, he’s a wolf,’ and then goes right to talking to me like I’m a baby. It’s been hard enough to learn human, too, so thanks for not judging… I hope my stupid accent’s not too hard to pick through…”

 

“Accent? What accent?” I ask. “I’ve been on Earth long enough to hear plenty of people, so you sound pretty much like all of the ones I’m used to hearing… but completely different than Tony, though… and he grew up on Earth. He and Calvin sound a lot alike, though…”

 

“They’re from the same area, though… so that makes sense. Do even the accents here on Terra mirror those on Earth? Not that it really matters, just sayin’,” Isaac says.

 

“No idea,” I say. “But seriously, it’s cold out here, and I don’t have a winter coat, so can we get where we’re going, please, and get there quickly? Hmm?”

 

“Yeah, sorry, told ya I was stupid,” James says, sticking his tongue out as his tail wags. “Come on, we’re almost there,” he says, tearing off, and we follow after him as quickly as we can, past the ship and over the next few ridges. As we run, I take a look around us, and it sickens me. The ground is covered in enormous potholes, potholes and impact craters, all of them scorched black around the edges, and the air smells like smoke and sulfur and another scent that I can’t quite place, but whatever it is, it sets my fur on edge.

 

Trying to blot that feeling out, I follow James to wherever he’s going, and it turns out that where he’s going is the shell of a house that’s barely standing, and quite honestly, it looks like it’s going to come crashing down on all of our heads soon enough.

 

“Are you sure this is safe, James?” I ask him as he leads us around the back, over shards of glass that have shattered and fallen out of the windows and shingles from the roof with rusty nails sticking out of them. I’ll pass on the lockmuzzle; thanks, nails, but I’m good.

 

“Safe or no, Theo,” James says, kneeling down next to a set of rusted iron bull-cow doors and unlocking the padlock on the chain that’s holding them shut with a small key that he fishes out of one of the pockets of the jeans that he’s wearing, and it’s then that I realize that the bottoms of his pants are stained with blood.

 

“James, what’s with the blood?” I ask him, hoping he’ll answer me, because from the look of things, he’s in a shitton of pain.

 

“You try walking through glass slivers when you don’t get out much. It’s nothing, just some cut-up paws, nothing to worry about.”

 

“Dude, your sister would want us to help you out,” I say, and James whirls around, hackles raised and teeth bared, and holy fuck I hope he doesn’t attack me…

 

“Yeah, she would’ve, hmm? Then why the freaking hell is she not here to help me herself? Oh, wait, I know the answer, because she freaking abandoned me and went to Earth and never looked back, that’s why. She never loved me, so why should I give a flying fuck?”

 

“Because she thought you were dead, James, that’s why, damn it! She thought that you had been killed when your mom died too, okay? She had no idea, so why would she have come back? She had nothing to come back to!”

 

“Is that really it, or did she just feed you all that line to give to me so that way you could try and force me to work with all of you? How do I know that any of you are even Terrans? How do I know that any of you even know Alaina?”

 

“Because for one,” Isaac says, “I’m her mate and the father of our her kits-  _ our _ kits, second, Theo here,” Isaac says, pointing a finger at me, “has always been there for her.”

 

“James,” I ask, putting my paws out placatingly to try and calm him down, “do you even know how Alaina and I met?”

 

When James shakes his head, I continue. “We met just around the time you would’ve been born, maybe a Terran year after, and she had been out on the streets because your parents had just died, and my mom ate lead after my own dad died. We were both out on the streets, you know the museum down on Banyan Street? Yeah, I used to live under those steps, I did that for more than a year. It wasn’t any flocking fun, let me tell you. But anyways, one day it’s pouring out, and along comes this sopping wet gray wolf and she sees me, and she asks if she can join me to stay dry, well, drier than she would’ve been. That wolf became my best friend pretty quickly, and we both ended up in the Venturing program another year or two later, and then we got sent to Earth, and then our host family adopted us, and well, that’s the first part of the long story short.

 

“So, James, if you don’t mind me asking, how well do you know your sister? I’m not trying to be mean, I just want to know…”

 

“Not that well,” James says, his paws slipping up to cover his face as we enter the basement of what I’m assuming used to be Alaina’s home, that is, before all hell broke loose. As we go down, James flips a switch on the wall, and two ancient lightbulbs hum to life above us.

 

I look around the room really quickly, and geez, it’s not much. Old cinder-block walls, concrete floor, a musty cot and bookshelves and a desk with a candle in a holder, as well as- geez, a typewriter? on top. There’s a tub and sink in the back in what looks like an old bathroom, but I don’t see any heating system or anything like that. What I  _ do _ see is piles of old rags, all pushed to the end of the bed, and the gravity of the situation sinks in.  _ He’s barely getting by, barely avoiding starving to death… _

 

As if to support the conclusion I’ve come to in my head, a few drops of water leak through the ceiling, better known as the rotting old floor of the bombed-out shell of a house above us, making sure to splash me right on the tip of the nose, which, of freaking course, causes me to sneeze. Not that it really matters, of course, just that it’s annoying.

 

“Is that embarrassing, James?” Tony asks, speaking up for the first time in forever. “It would be for me, at least.”

 

“It is a little bit,” James says. “Wolves, we’re pack mammals, we treasure our family, and when someone who we don’t really know knows our family better than we do? I don’t know i- if it’s just me, but that kinda rubs me the wrong way, and well, yeah, I want off this planet as soon as possible…. Can you guys take me with you?”

 

“Only if we get out of here alive first,” Tony says, and that shuts everyone up.

 

“Yeah, that’s kinda a good point, actually,” James says. “You guys wanna hang down here for a while? I mean, I have nowhere else to be… do you guys?”

 

“No, not really, other than at home with my family and my kits, but yeah, nowhere better to be,” I say, sneezing as yet another drop of cold water splashes on the edge of my nose. Damn it… I hope I don’t catch a cold, that’d probably kill me.

 

Anyways, though, focusing on the positives, right? Yeah, I’m positive I’m going to die.

 

_ Um, that wasn’t the kind of positive I meant. _

 

Really, though, I need to stay positive.

 

“Does anyone else have anywhere to be?” James asks, and all of us shake our heads. “Good. Look, I’m not going to kill anyone, I promise, I’m sorry about that, okay? I don’t want to have to. Do you mind introducing yourselves, by the way? I don’t think we ever did…. and since, well, we’re kinda going to be spending a  _ lot  _ of time around each other for the next who even knows how long, so, um, who wants to start? Actually, you know what? Since I’m the crazy wolf whose basement home we’re all hiding in, I’ll start. No, I’m not actually crazy, just tired and stressed, but anyways, hi, I’m James… James Lupa.”

 

“And we all know each other, of course,” I say. “But I’m Theo.”

 

“I’m Calvin,” Calvin says, chucking Tony on the shoulder, “and this here mammal is my boyfriend, Tony.”

 

“Hi,” Tony says, blushing nervously.

 

“Dude, it’s okay, we all get it, you’re nervous, it’s fine, we all are,” James says, lighting a few candles around the edge of the room.

 

“Oh, I know, I’m just a little frazzled is all. Anyways, yeah,” Tony says, brushing the just off of his pants, “I’m Tony, and yeah, I know, I’m weird, but then again, I don’t think that any of us could ever really have been called normal… yeah, such is life.”

 

“I’m Isaac,” Isaac says, raising his paw. “I’m Theo’s brother in law, and please don’t call me a good boy, that’s my one pet peeve…”

 

“Pet peeve? Really?”

 

“Geez, Calvin,” Isaac says, laughing. “But seriously, I hate it when people do that.”

 

“Why?” James asks, head cocked. “I always thought it was a compliment…”

 

“Oh, it is, it is,” Isaac says. “But, um, I know you wouldn’t get the context, so let’s see if I can explain it. On Earth there’s a kind of dog that’s called a golden retriever, and if you don’t know what those look like, just look at me, I’m pretty much a carbon copy of one, except I’m not a dog, I’m a wolf.

 

“See, the thing is, nobody can tell the freaking difference, and I’ve lost track of how many times some darn human’s given me a pet on the ears and called me a good boy. I’m freaking sick of it…”

 

“That’s the life wolves have here these days, too, Isaac, believe me, you have it a lot better on Earth. I’m kinda lucky I haven’t had to find a street corner yet.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Isaac asks, and Mrs. Neve leans over to whisper in his ear, and he goes bright red. I know what it means, and that line of work would be the end of me. It’d break me apart, I know, and well, guys get it rougher.

 

No pun intended, but seriously, that’s the way it is. I had to help in a center years ago as part of the Venturing program, and what I saw there…

 

It wasn’t pleasant… mammals would come in all shredded up and bleeding… thank god James managed to escape that, I’ve heard they start as soon as possible.

 

“You’re lucky, James,” Isaac says, still blushing red from embarrassment. “Geez, I’m sorry… and lemme guess, people have tried to make you-?”

 

“Yeah,” James says. “Just this morning, actually, that’s what I was doing outside when you guys got here, running away from all of the soldiers who want a piece of me in that way… everybody just seems to think that wolves are just good for a fun time or a quickie or something like that. Well, you know what I say to that? Fuck it! No wait, don’t do that, that’s what I want to avoid…”

 

“Damn,” Isaac says. “And here I thought I had it good….”

 

“Well, maybe you do back on Earth, but here on Terra? Life’s shit, and that’s nothing new. As much as it drives me up the wall that Alaina hasn’t said anything, like you said, she thinks I’m dead, and well, that makes sense. So, anyways, um, seriously, what’s the plan now?”

 

“Do you have any sort of idea what Mister Marlboro could be up to? Or even how to kill him?”

 

“Um… how did your dad kill him, Theo?”

 

“For one, James, he’s not my father. He abandoned me, but in the interest of keeping myself calm, let’s not talk about that. Honestly, I have no idea how he killed the damn thing, but… wait a second,” I say as a memory floats to the surface of my mind, one of when I was a little kit, and I have no idea why I remember this, but I do.

 

“What is it?” James asks, tail wagging in curiosity.

 

“Hang on a sec and I’ll let you know. It- it’s my dad, arguing with my mom. I remember hiding in the closet ‘cause it was one of the ones that got bad, bottles thrown and all, and this was before she ended up as a wretched drunk, but she was crying about how my dad had to leave us, ‘cause he had just been drafted by the army, and she didn’t want him to go. We all know how that went, but she’d been yelling at him because she was afraid that the Sturgmen would come for him, just like they did… But he was convinced that they wouldn’t be able to, because the Army had been working on a gun that would take care of them, but that they wouldn’t be able to waste any bullets, they were too expensive because- that’s it!”

 

“What’s it? Did you figure it out?”

 

“Yeah, the bullets were- shit, they were bone…. and not just any bone, but Sturgman bone… where are we gonna find a dead one?” I wonder, and then I want to smack my face because I’m so stupid I can’t even believe it, but damn, it’s going to mean bloody paws… shit…

 

“Um, no offense, Theo,” Mrs. Neve says, looking at me with eyes that seem as cold as ice, “but a, that means that we’d have to leave here, b, I don’t want all of us to die, and c, can’t you think of a better option?

 

“Sure!” I say, trying to smile as wide as it’s possible to do, hoping I look screwy and sarcastic, and it works. “Yeah, I have a better option- we all wait for Mister Marlboro to come get us, how’s that sound?”

 

“Pass, thanks,” everyone says.

 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, so who has a better idea?”

 

“How about we lock the doors here and crash, okay? It’s getting late already, and I’m tired,” Tony says, yawning.

 

“If he’s going to take a nap, I’m joining him,” Isaac says. “I don’t care about the floor,” he says, dropping to his knees and curling up in a little ball on the floor, and just a few second later, I hear him start to snore, right along with Tony, who finds a spot in the back of the room, right near the bathroom door.

 

“And it’s a good boyfriend and mate’s job to stay with their partner,” Calvin says, curling up next to Tony and putting a protective arm around him.

 

“Are they-?” James asks, and I nod.

 

“Gay? Together? Yeah, both, why? Got a problem with that?”

 

“No, I’m just curious,” James says. “My cousin Emma has a girlfriend and my uncle Carmen is bi, so, yeah, no complaints. Yeah, okay, I’m wiped. Good night, Theo,” he says, yawning and curling up himself, tucking his tail over his face and falling asleep too, leaving just me and Mrs. Neve awake, and even she looks tired.

 

“I’ll stay awake, Mrs. Neve, if you need to go to sleep… do you have a gun on you, maybe? If I’m going to stay on guard all night, I’m going to need to be able to defend myself….”

 

“Yeah, I wish,” Mrs. Neve says, “but I left mine back at the school… shit, I didn’t even think about it, I just left the damn thing behind, shit…. That’s what got me sent to Earth in the first place…”

 

“What’s that mean, Mrs. Neve?” I ask.

 

“I got shot on the front lines  because I managed to leave my gun behind on a mission and I got put on desk duty. I got sick of that and asked for another job. Terra wanted a spy, I said sure, why not, and off I went. I kinda got sick of that job eventually, told my supervisors I quit, and got married. He died doing the same thing I nearly died doing, fighting on the front lines. I guess I’m thankful that that bracelet makes it so you age even slower in the inside…”

 

“You really are just what? Twenty-eight?”

 

“Yeah, that’s it. Not really anything more than that. You know, it’s hard to act like you’re just shy of double that when you’re not…”

 

“So I’ll take guard duty then…,” I say, grabbing a bottle of water off of the shelf next to me, as well as a lantern, and set myself to watching.

 

Foxes may be nocturnal, but it’s been years and years and then some more since I’ve actually been up all night, so it’s going to be a scat-ton of fun trying to push myself even farther than I’ve gotten used to.

 

As the night wears on, it starts to get cold, and, well, I don’t have a freaking winter coat, damn it!

 

Eventually, the light that’s glowing from the lantern starts to flicker until it goes out, leaving me in darkness. No worries, though, I can see in the dark.

It  _ is _ pretty freaking cold in here….

 

Flock flock flock I freaking hate this!

 

‘Course, it was my own damn fault that got us sent here, so…

 

Yeah, I’ll just deal and freeze.

 

That sounds about right…

 

_ Okay, yeah, I need to shut it,  _ I think as I rub my paws down my arms, trying not to freeze, but it’s so dang hard not too, and the cold is making my head feel thick…

 

_ I can’t stay awake any longer… no, no, no! I can’t fall asleep, I can’t! _

 

That’s the thought that sticks in my head as I manage to fight myself awake time and time and time again until I see the sun start to rise through the knot hole in the door, and I see that everyone’s starting to wake up.

 

I know my mom (when she wasn’t crazy as flock, that is) used to love waking up to the sun, so I go to open up the door and then think better of it.

 

_ NO! That’s just asking to get everyone killed… _

 

“Morning, everyone!” I say, yawning and stretching, feeling my joints crack from not having moved in nearly ten hours.

 

“Hiya, Theo,” Isaac says, stretching out like I do and yawning as well. “Sleep well?”

 

“Um, no, Isaac, I’ve been up all night, your mom asked me to guard, so, um, here I am. Can someone else take this job? I need a nap…” I say, and then snapping awake again when my head hits the dirt because I’ve tipped out of my chair… fuck, now I’ve got a headache, oh, and damn it, I’m bleeding, I realize as I take my paw away from my head and see that it has blood on it.

 

“Take a nap, Theo, you’ve earned it. I’ll guard,” Isaac says, and we trade places.

 

Before I realize it, I’m asleep again, and oh, it feels good, but then, after what feels like just a split second, a banging on the doors snaps me right awake again. I look around, and everyone looks panicked. Scat, this can’t be good.

 

“Who is it?” I call out, knowing the answer already but dreading to hear it.

 

“That’s none of your business, Mister Aspen,” comes the voice from the other side, and nope, I was mistaken, it’s not Mister Marlboro, but it sounds like it’s going to be even worse.

 

“It’s not?” I ask. “Why not?”

 

“Because unlike me, your life matters to the whole, and believe me, you’re going to want to be part of this as a live fox, Mister Aspen.”

 

_ Oh, okay, that doesn’t bode well for me… _

 

“What about the others?” I ask. “Leave them out of this!”

 

“No can do, Theodore… they’ve got to come too. The prices on all of your heads…” the voice from the other side says, and I gulp.

 

“What if I refuse to come out?” I say. “What can you do then? Kill me?”

 

“You’re smarter than I gave you credit form, Mister Aspen,” the voice says, and I gulp again. I hope I don’t wet myself again… I thought we were only going to be here a day or two, and well, I only brought one pair of clothes… and yep, still wearing ‘em! I’m sure I smell awful…

 

“I’d hope I am,” I say, steeling my nerves. “So what do you want? These are not the mammals you’re looking for…”

 

“ _ Fur Wars _ reference aside, Theodore,” the voice says, growing colder and harsher, which sends a shiver down my spine, “I think they are. I’ll give you two choices.”

 

“And those are?” I say, hating the way this is going and hoping that I wake everyone up with the sound of my voice.

 

“Either you surrender and all of your friends come with us, or I’ll break this door down and kill you while your friends watch. Your choice….”

 

“You can have me,” I say, “but leave my friends alone!”

 

“Oh, no, no, they’re in this with you, they’re coming along as well. Wake them up, I can hear them snoring…. Damn animals…”

 

“O- okay,” I say, hating that stupid, stupid stutter that I’ve been getting when I’m nervous, and then going around to wake everyone up.

 

“Wh- what is it, Theo?” Mrs. Neve groans.

 

“T-they’re here for us, Mrs. Neve,” I say, tail flicking back and forth, back and forth behind us, and I hate it, hate the stupid stutter, hate the fear, hate that I’m in this whole situation.

 

“What?” Mrs. Neve says, springing out of bed, hackles raised. “What? And you just let them come here?”

 

“Mrs. Neve, please, I’ve had enough of that. I didn’t do anything, I was up all night watching, nothing came. Isaac took over for me because he wanted to- don’t think that, it wasn’t his fault either- he was even better at the whole job than me, I’m sure… please, just help me wake everyone else up, and let’s just go. I- you know I’d fight if I was sure that it wouldn’t end up getting all o us killed, you know that, right?” I ask, dropping my voice and hoping that the soldier (or even soldier _ s _ ) outside haven’t heard us talking.

 

“I know, Theo, I do," Mrs. Neve says. "Now come on, let's go and get this done and over with. IF they're after anyone, it's probably going to be me... I did their numbers some fair damage when I was in the Terran army all of those years ago..."

 

"No, you know what, Mrs. Neve, they're probably after me, too, and if they're after both of us...."

 

"They're going to be after all of us," she says, realizing. "Of fucking course, and no offense to James there, but-"

 

"Are you all coming or not?" comes the voice of the soldier from outside, and I try to get a picture of the creature on the other side of the door. It doesn't sound like a Sturgman, but then again, how the freak am I even really supposed to know what those damn things sound like?

 

"We'll be out soon," I say, tapping Isaac on the shoulder, roughly shaking him awake.

 

"Mmph, what? What is it?" he asks, sitting up and wiping his eyes groggily. "Is everything okay?"

 

"No, Isaac," I whisper, pointing a finger at the door. "And it'll be even worse if you can't get up and get your clothes in about the next two or three minutes or so. Random question, by the way- why are you sleeping in the fur? There are other girls around, dude..."

 

"You noticed?" Isaac says, blushing hard and covering himself as best as he can with his paws. It doesn't go well.

 

"Just- just get dressed, mammal," I say, going to wake everyone else up. Thankfully, Tony and Calvin are already stretching out groggily, and Tony nearly freaks out when he realizes what's going on.

 

"Um, no, no, no no no no no.....," he whines. "Do you know what they'd do to someone like me?"

 

"No...," I say, wincing. "But I can't imagine it's a good thing..."

 

"Let's just say that I'd better get used to getting fucked in the ass..." Tony says, wincing. "Calvin wouldn't fare any better... you and Isaac and James? You'll be fine... us, though? We get to be playthings..."

 

"Not on my watch, Tony," I say. "We're coming, we're coming!" I nearly shout, and that wakes James up, who looks at me with panicked eyes that are wet with tears. "Are you two dressed?"

 

"Yeah, we're decent, we're moving...."

 

"Everyone else nearly up?"

 

"We're all good," Mrs. Neve says, taking  a deep breath and letting it out. "I'll get James."

 

"Here, let me help you," Mrs. Neve says, scooping the still-sleeping gray wolf up and hoisting him onto my back. He may be tall, but he's light... too light, he's probably starving... damn, and it won't get any better for him any time soon, especially not if he's going to be coming with us, and I wouldn't dare leave him behind for the wolves, for lack of a better term.

 

"Are you damn mammals coming or not?" comes the voice from outside once again.

 

"We're coming," Mrs. Neve says, unlocking the chain from the doors and letting it drop to let the rusted doors swing open, the brightest sunlight that I've ever seen blasting me in the face as soon as I do, and I can get a good look at the mammals who are to be our captors, and I realize that it's not any Sturgmen, but instead, it's an enormous pack of wolves, and my stomach turns over.

 

Thankfully, I don't throw up (except for inside of my mouth, the acid burning my throat, damn it!), but the thought of Terrans, especially a Terran species that's held in just a high regard as wolves working with the Sturgmen makes me sick, both figuratively and literally, because wolves, like I said so long ago on my first day of school here on Earth, are respected and honored, especially by us Terrans.

 

Apparently their loyalty can be swayed to the other side, too… I wonder what made them decide to change…

 

“So we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” one of the wolves, an older one with rust-red fur and a patch over one eye, says. “The easy way is easy, all of you pelts just come with me. The hard way is well, hard, and yeah, I don’t think you want do go through this the hard way, because, well, you’d probably all be dead, and we’re not getting paid if we don’t bring us to our boss alive… I kinda need the money, got to feed the mate and kits, you know…”

 

“And so do I!” Isaac says, and I nod. “Me too.”

 

“Both of you sons o’ bitches are fathers? Damn, you’re no more than pups… you’ve got to be scatting me…”

 

“I swear, sir!” Isaac says, dropping to his knees and pressing his face into the dirt in a gesture that anyone recognizes. “Please…”

 

“Well, I ain’t gonna kill ya,” the wolf says, sweeping his gun towards all of us, “not keeping in mind that you’ve probably got kits to go back to, but I still need the money. I can’t let you go… come on, all of you out, the sooner we can get this over with, the better…”

 

“Please!” I hear myself plead, and I’m shocked at how pitiful and little and weak I sound. “Please, leave us be….!”

 

“No can do, fox,” another wolf says. “You guys escape and we all die… we all want to live, believe me…”

 

“Who’s paying all of you?” Tony asks, eyes pleading, paws together like he’s praying.

 

“A certain slippery fella, don’t know his name, don’t care what it is,” another wolf, this one taller and even skinnier, his ribs showing through his white fur, and I realize when I look up that his eyes are red…

 

“W- what’s with the eyes?” I ask, trying to a, stall, and b, calm my nerves so that I don’t have the full-blown panic attack that I can feel rising up inside of me.

 

“Every freaking time…” the wolf says. “I’m an albino… everybody thinks I’m either a ghost or a demon wolf. Either’s correct, depending on how you look at things, I guess. Name’s Casper, by the way.”

 

“You fool!” the first wolf says, and for once, I have to stifle a laugh when the first wolf, whose name I don’t know, whacks the second, Casper, with the back of his paw. “You know we’re supposed to be taking the damn animals as captives, right, not talking to them? You weren’t ever good at that, you dummy… you know what, you like them so much, you can join them.”

 

“Fine with me,” the wolf, Casper it seems that his name is, says, dropping his gun as everyone’s jaws, including our own, drop. “You can have me, Jackson, I’ve gotten sick of this shit.”

 

“Oh- okay, then,” the first wolf, Jackson it seems his name is, says. “Go on, get over there.”

 

Casper does as he’s told, and comes over to join us, leaving us all standing in shock.

 

“So now, are you all coming with us?” another wolf asks, his teeth set in a snarl. “Damn coward, Lupa, what a coward… come on, all of you with us.”

 

We do as we’re told without complaint, and Casper falls to the back of the group, right near me.

 

“Um, Casper?” I whisper.

 

“Yeah, what is it?” he asks.

 

“Why’d he call you Lupa?”

 

“Lupa’s my last name… why?”

 

“Because it’s mine too,” James interjects. “Um, were you in a car crash as a kit and everyone told you your family was dead?”

 

“Yeah, actually, why?”

 

“Because,” I interject, “lemme guess, you two are brothers, and that makes both of you my brothers because your sister, Alaina, she got sent to Earth on exchange with me.”

 

“Um…”

 

“Yeah, maybe… what was your mom’s name, Casper?” James asks.

 

“Emily, why?”

 

At that, James doesn’t say anything, only nods, and the rest of the wolves all look at us like we’re crazy.

 

“And what was your dad’s name?”

 

“Lukas,” Casper says, and at that, James wraps him in an enormous hug. 

 

“I… they… they told me you were dead….”

 

“Are- are you sure?”

 

“It was three weeks after Dawnbreak, wasn’t it? Three weeks to the day?”

 

“Yeah… it was… where the flock have you been?”

 

“Oh, just a few  _ tryseu _ away from here, that’s all, not far…”

 

“I- I- come here, you,” Casper says, and James dives into his arms again, and all of the wolves clap.

 

“So are you going to come back to Earth with us eventually, Casper?” I ask.

 

“I will if I can,” he says. “For right now, though, we need to go with them…”

 

“As long as we’re all together,” Tony says. “I’m not abandoning my family…”

 

“I wouldn’t dare take you away from your family, but we need to go…” Casper says. “I’ll help keep you safe… if you’re Isaac and James’s family, you’re mine.”

 

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Isaac says as we head out, following the wolves, “why is your name Casper?”

 

“I never really had a name, and everyone just called me ‘Ghost.’ That turned into ‘Casper,’ ‘cause he was the friendly ghost, and I’m a lover, not a fighter, and well, that name just stuck…”

 

“Was the ‘ghost’ thing ‘cause you’re white and have red eyes?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much.”

 

“So, um, if you don’t mind me asking, where the heck are we going?” I ask a little while later.

 

“Well, I think I’ve managed to convince big guy there not to haul us straight to you know who…” he says, with a look in his eyes that makes me understand perfectly why they called him ‘Ghost.’

 

“Um, so then where  _ are _ we going?”

 

“Great question… you’re asking the wrong mammal, bro.”

 

“Somewhere away from here,” says another one of the wolves, overhearing a snippet of our conversation. “If we’re going to escape from whatever the freaking hell that thing is, we need to get going….”

 

“Um, does anyone have any weapons?” Isaac asks. “We’re going to need them, you know, and um, we left our behind when we ran away… well, we’re screwed…”

 

“If you’re-” Tony starts to say, but then Calvin cuts him off with a glare.

 

“Not funny, dude, really?”

 

“I was just trying to lighten the situation here, that’s all…”

 

“Yeah, we know, but seriously, sex jokes? Dude, can it, okay?” 

 

“Fine,” Tony mutters, his voice barely audible.

 

“So, um, then what should we talk about instead? I’m sorry, and um, yeah, I’ve got nothin’.” Isaac says, wringing his wrists. “Stupid anxiety sucks…”

 

“You’re telling me!” Casper says, smiling sadly at him. “Are all wolves anxious wrecks, or is it just me?”

 

“Most foxes are too, Casper,” I say, shivering as another cold gust of air ruffles my fur. I’d really, really been hoping that it would’ve warmed up a little bit by now, but, yeah, no luck…

 

Besides, don’t we all know that luck is never on a fox’s side?

 

Yeah, but that’s going to change.

 

“You look fine, Theo,” Casper says. “I’m the one who’s always been the screwball here…”

 

“You get to know your brother-in-law well enough, by the way, that’s Isaac I’m talking about, not me, but um, anyways, I’m going to be one… anyways, though, yeah, Isaac’s a screwball…”

 

“No, I am?” Isaac asks, sticking his tongue out at all of us as we keep going, and I’m starting to wonder how long it’s going to be, because it’s starting to get even colder and the sun is starting to set….

 

“Yeah, you are…” Tony starts to say, before he stops, cutting himself off suddenly. “I- I think we’re here…”

 

“You’re right,” Jackson says. “So do you guys know what this place is?” he asks, gesturing with a sweep of the paw to the building in front of us, a rather imposing several story building with a yard fenced in barbed wire.

 

“Um, no, yeah, I have no idea what it is, so, um, if you wouldn’t mind telling me where the heck we are?”

 

“Sure!” Jackson says, smiling, well, more wincing than anything, more a wince with a hint of a smile. “This is where all of us live. It’s cold and freezing and smells like, well, mold and sweat, but it’s all we have. We’re lucky, I guess, the government built us this place to get us off the streets. Being homeless freaking sucks…”

 

“Yeah, I know, I know how it feels,” I say, and Casper looks at me with his head tilted sideways and ears perked, and I have to stifle a laugh at how much he looks like his brother-in-law when he does that.

 

“You do?” he asks, and I nod.

 

“Yeah, believe me, how do you think I ended up as part of the Venturing program to begin with? It wasn’t because I had any sort of family to come back to…”

 

“Oh,” he says, and we all head up the stairs to the front door of the wolves’ house. After one of the other wolves, a shorter black one, fiddles with the lock and he finally gets the door open, much to the delight of everyone else, because it’s not only starting to get dark right about now, not only cold, but damn it, it’s starting to rain, too, and not just the normal ‘clean up the world a little’ sort of rain, no, the rain that comes brings thunder and lightning, booming and sparking through the sky, bringing wind that howls like an anguished wolf’s howling cry. Needless to say, I guess, but I’ll say it anyways: I’m freaking terrified, and yep, that furry thing between my legs is my tail.

 

Damn it.

 

“So what now?” I ask as the same wolf closes and locks and bolts and shuts a heavy metal plate over the door behind us as we all head in. Dang, they really take their security seriously here…

 

“Welp, seems like we have two real choices here, either stay here and wait for them to come for us, which I’m sure that they’re going to be more than willing to do, or, um, we can go out and try to find them and fight them there. How’s that sound?”

 

“Pretty awful, honestly,” Casper chimes in, and I can see the other wolf try and fail to suppress a growl.

 

“Lupa,” he snarls. “You remember that we only let you join our group because you had no other pack. They’re here for you now, you’re one of us no longer, and really, you never were. We’re not going to kick you out, that’d mean that we all die. Just… just keep to your own side from now on, okay?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Casper says, dropping his head in submission and going off on his own.

 

“Wait!” I say, following him down the hallway, hoping everyone else can find us, too. “Wait, please, where are you going?”

 

“My room,” he says. “They let me stay, but yeah, no, they don’t like me. If you guys are going to stay here with me, you’re going to want to stay in my room. Don’t worry, it has plenty of space, they don’t like me. It’s the eyes, I’m sure…. They think I’m a demon, I’ll bet…”

“Your eyes are kinda creepy,” Isaac says, and then realizes what he’s said. “I mean that in the best way possible, you know…. sorry if it didn’t come across that way… damn it!”

 

“Isaac, relax, it’s okay, bro,” Casper says, giving Isaac a pat on the back, and I see all of the air go out of a certain tan wolf, and his tail even starts to wag slightly as he smiles.

 

“I don’t know if I quite believe that, bro,” Isaac says, returning the pat on the back. “So, um, nice room,” he says, gesturing to the space around us. It really is huge, with a high ceiling and paint on all of the walls instead of the bare gray slab of concrete that I was expecting, and there’s even a little carpet on the floor beneath our paws, which feels great after walking on hard gravel.

 

“Thanks, man,” Casper says, smiling sheepishly, paw behind his ears.

 

“I thought that that was just a me thing,” I says. “You know, the paw behind the ears when I got embarrassed….”

 

“No, it’s a thing that pretty much all canids do…,” Casper says. “I hate it, really, I think it makes me seem like I’m just a little pup, tiny and submissive, like ‘oh, please don’t hurt me or bite my neck or anything like that, I’m just a little defenseless wolf. Dam it, I’m more mature than that…”

 

“And we all fall down sometimes, you know. It’s really not the end of the world,” James says.

 

“No, that’s going to be coming up plenty soon enough, and if we’re not careful, probably the end of both Worlds…”

 

“So, um, about that- you have to kill Sturgmen with bone bullets? That’s what I’ve been told, at least,” I say. “Granted,” I whisper, “the person who told me that was-  _ is- _ slightly crazy, so, um… yeah, can I trust him? Probably not, but what choice do I have, really?”

 

“You don’t really have a choice there, Theo,” Tony says, and I jump a little bit in surprise. “You heard that?”

 

“I’m a cheetah, Theo, I have sharp ears too, believe you me.”

 

“The fact that I’m startled a little aside,” I say, “what do you mean, I don’t have a choice.”

 

“What I’m trying to say, Theo, is that he’s given you the only real clue as to what we need to do to defend ourselves, so whether you freaking trust him or not, we don’t have any fucking options, okay?”

 

“But that raises a whole other set of questions,” I say, putting my paws to my temples and rubbing them in frustration. “Like this- how do we even get Sturgman bone? How do we not die when we try to kill them? Sorry, that probably sounds really awkward. You know what I’m trying to say there, right?”

 

“Yeah, I do,” Casper says. “So, um, yeah, uh, the thing is that you can only kill them with their own bone…”

 

“There’s got to be a better way than that….,” I groan. “Seriously? There’s nothing else, nothing in the Two Worlds that could kill these dam things? So how are we supposed to go home?”

 

“Um…. great question, really…” Casper says. “Um, you know, I have an idea… wait,  nope, never mind, no I don’t…”

 

“What was the idea?” Calvin asks, saying something and making himself heard for the first time in a long time…”

 

“Oh, it was nothing,” Casper says. “Honestly, I don’t even remember what it was now…. Sorry about that, guys... “

 

“It’s fine, Casper,” I say, making  _ myself _ heard, truly, for the first time in forever. “Look, we’ve got to come up with a solid plan here, not just keep snatching at straws, that kinda wears down my grip even more than it already is, and, yeah, I’m probably going to need those eventually. “So, yeah, seriously, though, we need a plan, and I don’t think that we’re going to be able to really count on any help from the rest of the wolves here, you?”

 

“Yeah, no,” Isaac says. “We’d be screwed trying to get any help from them. Tony, don’t say anything, we get it, spring is cat fun time, but chill, mammal, okay? Calvin, would you mind reining in your mate there, please? I don’t want to sound condescending or anything, but…”

 

“No, it’s okay, really,” I say. “So our only way out of this shithole isn’t even possible, we have a creeper species on our tails, and um, yeah, that’s pretty much the way things are going right about now…. it’s  _ soooo _ much freaking fun, I wish I could do it every day…”

 

“Nice sarcasm, Theo,” Mrs. Neve says. “You’ve been practicing a lot, haven’t you?”

 

“Yeah, actually,” I say, blushing and hating myself for it, especially given that we’re in the middle of a mess that I managed to get us into….

 

I still can’t let that go, for some reason. I swear, I drive myself nuts most days, and yep, nope, still not a squirrel. Plenty squirrelly, but I’m a fox… Anyways, though…

 

“Yeah, I have been,” I say, a little bit louder this time. “Yeah, I have been.”

 

“You’re pretty good at it,” Mrs. Neve says. “And no, I’m not being sarcastic this time, Theo.”

 

“Thanks, Mrs. Neve,” I say. “So, um, Casper, where do we find food around here? None of us have really eaten since yesterday, and even then, it was barely anything… um, we didn’t think we were going to be here very long, so, um, yeah, I didn’t pack anything…”

  
“Well, add to that the fact that we were fleeing an attack on Earth and didn’t really think about the fact that we were going to be here on Terra for very long….,” Tony says. “Yeah, we’re not in good shape…”

 

“Well, I hate to say it, guys,” Casper says, smiling sadly, “but um, we’re not really in much better shape here on Terra, unless you guys like eating vegetables and things like that. Me, I don’t mind, but, and yeah, it’s gonna sound stupid as hell, but most wolves hate vegetables, and well, that kinda means that they’re starving themselves because meat is damn near impossible to come by…”

 

“So there are veggies?” Calvin asks, smiling. “Sorry, yeah, no I like them…”

 

“Me too,” I say, nodding. “I think everyone else likes them too, as far as I know.”

 

“You guys are the oddest mammals I’ve met…,” Casper says, smiling. “I love that, don’t get me wrong, just saying.”

 

“Oh, believe me,” I say, “I know. Believe me, no sane fox ever stays that way for very long, and you know, I’m starting to see the merits of that…”

 

“Believe me, Theo,” Casper says, grabbing a few blankets off of the floor and trying to turn them into beds of sorts, “I know what that’s like, believe you me.”

 

“The fur doesn’t help anything, does it?”

“It’s more the eyes than anything else, really… I’d wear some tinted lenses if I could find them, but yeah, nope, those are a human invention, and- oh, shit!” Casper says, looking out the window in shock.

 

“What is it?” I ask, and Casper dives for the bed, trying to hide underneath it.

 

“M- m- missiles,” he stutters, and I look out the window in shock, and yep, he’s not wrong. They look like they’re smaller, the trails of white that they’re smoking out behind them aren’t as long as the other ones that I’ve seen and oh my god we’re about to be bombed what in the fucking hell am I doing just staring here, those are going to hit the ground in less than a minute, shit!

 

“Is there any place we can go?” I ask, feeling that now way, way, way too familiar panic start to creep into my voice again. I really hate that, but hell, at least in this case, it’s deserved and not just the byproduct of a freakout panic attack.

 

“Yeah, here, in this room,” Casper says. “This is the original base in its entirety, so it has the-”

 

He can’t say anything else, because we’re all knocked to the ground as an enormous fireball roils outside, charring the windows and damn it, I can’t hear anything… that’s new... ,” I think, and then the panic starts to set in… what if I’m deaf… that can’t be good, what use is a fox if he can’t hear anything?

 

I don’t know, probably nothing, but at least I can still smell, and what I smell more than anything, other than the piss smell that is me and the ash in the air, is blood. Lots and lots of blood, and it’s disgusting… Maybe if I were a vampire bat, I’d like this sort of thing, but yep, nope, still a fox here.

 

Oh, shit, this isn’t good, I realize as my brain’s gears slowly start to get themselves going again, slowly, slowly as slow as is probably possible for what feels like forever, but eventually, they get themselves back going again, and I’m thankful that I don’t smell any more smoke than I already do and damn it, I need to get up…

 

With that in mind, I push myself to my paws, yelping as I cut them on the shards of glass that are all over the freaking place, and I only know that I yelp because I can’t hear any noise coming out of the end of my muzzle, which hopefully won’t turn out to mean that I’m deaf…

 

Okay, scene check… white dust all over the place, ash…. Looks like a bomb hit it…

 

Oh, wait… one did…

 

Everyone’s moving, thankfully, but there’s a lot of red in here too, soaking the carpet of the floor and sticking to the dust.

 

Calvin looks like he’s helping Tony out, and both of them are getting up slowly as well, Isaac, despite him always ragging on himself and thinking that he’s weak, is, like I remember thinking what feels like so long ago, probably the strongest one out of all of us. Alaina’s lucky to have him…

 

The only problem is that both Mrs. Neve and Casper aren’t moving… let’s see, I can’t help them both at the same time…

 

“Calvin?” I ask, hearing my voice, cracking and weak, and it sounds awful but thank god I’m not dead…

 

“Yeah… what is it, Theo?”

 

“Will you check on Casper? I’m going to check on Mrs. Neve…”

 

“Oh- okay,” I hear him say, but I’m not really listening because I’m sprinting over to Mrs. Neve and oh my god she’s covered in blood and she’s all pale and oh, my god… there’s a piece of glass sticking out of her chest… god god god god god and Karma…

 

“Th- Theo…” I hear her rasp, and this really doesn’t look good…. fuck, please no…

 

“Don- D- Don-,” I say, my voice coming out as even more of a rasp, because I can’t bear to think of what this is probably going to mean…

 

“Don’t what, Theo?” she asks, calmly just pulling the piece of glass out of her chest as blood slowly seeps around it.

 

“Um… please don’t do that, Mrs. Neve,” I say, trying to fight the rising bile that’s burning the back of my throat, and yep, that doesn’t go very well as I throw up all over the floor, the smell of smoke still burning the insides of my throat and nose and lungs, and now we can add the smell of bile to that as well.

 

“Why wouldn’t I take it out, Theo,” she says, the blood still pouring, and yep, I’m gonna hurl again…

 

_ Urrgh! _

 

By the time I look back up from throwing up all over the floor, Mrs. Neve’s pulled a bunch of bandages out of the pockets of her pants and stuffed the wound and wrapped it and taken care of, and why does this world keep playing with me? Either world? Both of them keep freaking doing it and it’s starting to drive me loopy, I swear…

 

“I- I- I- I-,” I try to say, but every single stinking time that I try to make my mouth form any sort of coherent anything, let along whole words or, Karma forbid, a whole sentence maybe, it doesn’t happen, not until I take a second to calm myself down all the way and take deep breath after deep breath after deep breath after even more deep breaths until I manage to calm down.

 

“I thought I was going to lose you, Mrs. Neve,” I say, and Isaac comes over, blood coating his teeth, and he nods and smiles at her, and it just so happens that at pretty much that exact moment, one of the drops of blood drips off of the end of his front fangs, and I can’t stifle my laugh.

 

“Dude, are you sure that you’re not a vampire wolf?” I ask him, reaching out a paw to help Mrs. Neve get back to her paws, the shard of glass that was just sticking out of her chest now wrapped in a scrap of bandage and tucked in her pocket. It’s a great idea, use it as a weapon later.

 

“Um, maybe I am,” Isaac says, licking the blood off of his arms and the paw pads on his fingers. “Yech,” he says, spitting all the blood and other crap out. “I taste like iron, and, oh my god, Mom, are you okay?” he says, finally noticing that there’s a bloody bandage or four around his mom’s chest, and that she’s not entirely the healthiest looking mammal right at the second, because she’s even paler looking than she normally is, and there’s blood on her hindpaws.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Mrs. Neve says. “Really, I am, no, seriously,” she says, noticing all of the ‘you sure you’re not crazy, mammal?’ looks that we’re giving her. “Guys, I’m fine… come on, we need to make sure everyone’s okay…”

 

“Sounds good to me,” I say, sighing, trying more than anything to shake my stress, but I just can’t, I nearly watched my mother-in-law bleed out in front of me, and I was almost too damn scared to do anything… oh my god, would that have made me a murderer if I had been?

 

Okay, I really need to derail this train of thought before it gets too nuts…

 

“No, wait,” Casper says. “Mrs. Neve, Isaac, you stay here, okay? I need to get out more, anyways… stay safe, don’t let anyone else in until we come back, okay?”

 

“No, we’ll come, I swear, I’m fine, okay? Seriously, you put a cat in a cage and you’re going to end p with a pissed off cat. Don’t do it.”

 

“Fine, then, but if you get hurt, Mom,” Isaac says, going to hug her but then thinking better of it, “you can’t say I didn’t tell you…”

 

“Yeah, yeah, Isaac,” she replies as we head out, trying our darn hardest to avoid getting our paw pads shredded to pieces. “Why don’t you let me do the parenting, hmm?”

 

“Because you’re only eleven years older than us, Mom,” Isaac says. “Believe me, I can take care of myself…”

 

“I’m still your mom, Isaac,” Mrs. Neve says. “I think I know what I’m doing.”

 

“Fine, if you insist,” Isaac says, coughing as he gets a lungful or to of smoke, and I start coughing too, just like everyone else.

 

Once all of our coughing fits are over, after what feels like forever, we keep going, back down the path that we took to get here, trying to find a high spot that’ll let us see how bad the damage is. From the smell of smoke that’s everywhere and from the crackling and rustling sound of fire that’s coming from somewhere ahead of us, I’m going to bet that it’s pretty dang bad.

 

“So where’s the highest point around here, Casper, James, do either of you know?” Mrs. Neve aks, her voice soft and hoarse. No, not like the animal, that took me forever to learn how to keep straight.

 

“Not too much farther from here, actually, Mrs. Neve,” Casper sys, pointing a finger at a tall wooden building on a hill nearby that I’m really kind of surprised hasn’t burned down yet.

 

“What is that thing?” Isaac asks. “Sorry, I’ve never seen anything that looks like it. Is it a siege tower? Are there crossbows and arrows inside? Please tell me that there are crossbows and arrows inside, please please please please please…” he says, his tail wagging like a little pup’s.

 

“No, sorry, Isaac, there aren’t any crossbows or arrows in that thing, it’s just supposed to be a spotter’s post,  where people can go and watch and make sure that there’s nothing or no mammal or creature or anything that’s coming this way that’s not supposed to be coming this way.”

 

“Aww, darn it, I was really hoping there was going to be like arrows or grenades or something like that in there…”

“You never asked me anything about grenades, but, um, yeah, there are grenades, just not arrows and crossbows….”

 

“Oh, yeah!” Isaac says, shouting and pumping his fist in the air, and everybody shushes him.

 

“Isaac!” Calvin says, looking around in fear and panic. “What the hell are you doing? There could be people watching us, dude…”

 

“Sorry,” Isaac says, wincing. You know I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, right, Tony? Please don’t hurt me…”

 

“Dude, it’s fine, really, so just relax, okay?” Tony says, smiling and patting Isaac on the back. “Believe me, we’re all on edge here, so relax.”

 

“Oh, I’m not as much on edge as I am excited!” Isaac exclaims, more quietly this time. “You know, those things would give us a fighting chance…”

 

“So let’s go get the grenades!” James says, but Casper shoots him down a harsh look.

 

“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, let’s get ourselves blown up, why don’t we?” he asks. “I think I’ll pass on that.”

 

“Dude, I wasn’t going to use the grenades on you…  geez…,” James says. “I may be a screwball that everyone thinks is an idiot just because I’m a wolf, but, um, only half of that statement’s actually true. I’m a screwball, but I’m not an idiot… seriously, we could stand the weapons…”

 

“Fine, but let me lead,” Isaac says, looking around nervously, his ears splayed flat against his head, which is all dirty and his fur, which is normally perfect and pristine, is smeared a crusty-red brown with dried blood.

 

“Um, Isaac, are you okay?” I ash him. “Dude, the entire back of your head is covered in blood, you don’t look too hot, man, are you sure you’re okay? You’re sure as freaking hell not looking the part right about now….”

 

“Theo,” he says. “You have to believe me here, okay? I hate this freaking planet… I just need to go home, but yeah, I’m fine, you know? Just kinda freaking covered in my own blood, nothing to freak out about…”

 

“No, I know that’s not anything I need to freak out about Theo,” he says. “Believe me, but, um,” he says, pointing with a shaking finger out towards the horizon, where we can all see that there’s something coming up over it, something bigger than anything, any spaceship that we’ve ever seen before, and believe you me, the mammals that grew up on Terra, so me and Alaina, plus Mrs. Neve, too, I guess, we’ve all seen plenty of them, but yeah, like I was saying, this one’s bigger than I’ve ever seen…

 

“What the freaking hell is that?” I ask, my jaw dropping as it gets closer, and it kinda looks like all of us are just frozen in fear here, and I really can’t blame them…

 

“T- t- t- that’s a Sturgman ship, Theo, in case you were wondering,” Mrs. Neve says, shaking like a leaf caught in the gusts of a hurricane, and that strikes fear straight to my heart, seeing her so afraid when she neer is, or if she is, she’d never let any of us catch on to the fact that she was.

 

“So should we be running away and screaming in fear as we flee for our lives, Mrs. Neve?” I ask, knowing the question’s foolish, because there’s no way that any of us are going to be able to move, we’re too freaking terrified.

 

Damn it, and this is one of the cases where I really could stand to have my brain listen to me…

 

“So, it looks like my entire life ends now…” I hear myself mutter. Where the freaking hell did that come from? I have no idea, if I’m being entirely honest, I just know that oh my fucking god I’m going to die I don’t want to die, please no don’t let me die why am I standing here and not running why why why why why???

 

That’s a question that I have no answer for, though, as the panic that has a stranglehold on my sense and sensibility isn’t letting go right now as the ship flies overhead, and I let out a breath, thank goodness, it’s just going by, not stopping to kill us oh than god, maybe we’ll even be lucky enough that it won’t have seen us and will just leave us alone…

 

That doesn’t turn out to be the case, though, as the relief that I eel that the ship’s gone by and flown overhead drains away as quickly, if not even more quickly than it came as the ship flies back our way, black exterior steaming and creaking and clanking as it lands in front of us, sending out a shockwave that sends all of us flying onto our backs, and damn, it really freaking hurts!

 

So yeah, this isn’t going to go well….

 

“Issac, run!” I say. “Get the grenades! Now!”

“But-!”

 

“Just do it, you’ll be fine!” I shout, fighting myself as hard as I can to keep myself here, where everyone’s going to need us, I’d be better off dead than feeling in terror, which is, like I’ve said, what I really, really really really really want to be doing right about now. What keeps me here, though, facing down what I’m more that ready to bet is pretty certain death is the fact that this is my family, and even more than that, I know that they would do the same thing, and what would Jenna think of me if she were to find out that I high-tailed it (no freaking pun intended, damn it!) out of the most dangerous situation that I ever found myself in? Well, she probably would congratulate me for making it out of there alive, but then if I were to tell her the cost it came at, everyone else dying, well, I know for a fact that she would actually kill me…

 

I think I’m going to pass on the whole dying thing, even if it is just going to be for today.

 

That’s not going to be easy, though, considering that the spaceship’s doors are opening, and I don’t know how much more cliche you can get, what with the doors swinging open wide and then white steam billowing out…

 

Damn it, why can’t I keep my mind on track here?

 

I have no idea, but what I  _ do  _ know is that Isaac is back with a box or three of grenades, and thank god and Karma, whoever up there in the heavens that could possibly be listening to this poor fox, and he’s passing them out to each of us. They look like they’re pretty much brand new, which is good, because this is going to have to be an all-out fight, and that’s kinda pathetic.

 

I have no idea if these grenades are even going to be enough to do in one stinking Sturgman… especially not the damn Sturgman that I know is going to be on that ship, along with hundreds and hundreds of his friends, probably, and all of them are going to be out looking for Terran blood.

 

I’m going to have to pray that I make it out of this mess alive… and from where we’re standing, I think we might actually have a pretty decent fighting chance. We can do this, we  _ will  _ do this, we will win, and none of us are going to freaking die, that would be bad and should kinda be avoided at all costs, except at the cost of one’s own life, that kinda defeats the whole purpose of staying alive.

 

Damn it I drive myself nuts, why can’t I just have a normal brain like any sane fox would have?

 

Oh wait, that’s impossible, I don’t think I ever really was well and truly sane, or if I was, I lost the last little remaining scraps of that so-called ‘sanity’ when a certain Sturgman decided to throw me across the fucking hallway and then down it and then smash my ribs in, that was No. Freaking. Fun!

 

“So what’s all this?” comes a voice from over by the ship, and I realize that there’s a rather large figure walking down the ramp of the stairs, even bigger than the first one we saw, but it has the same voice, Mister Marllboro’s voice, gravelly and filled with hatred. “Are all of you hear just to die, or are you going to surrender? Believe me, I think you’d probably better surrender, or I’ll whip all of your asses, and oh, I’ll whip them so badly that all of you are just going to be bloody, pulpy red stains on the ground. How’s that sound?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know, Mister Marlboro,” I say, trying to project a shit ton more confidence than I feel. “I really don’t know, it sounds like a lot of over-blown chatter from a creature that just deserves to die…”

 

“Speak for yourself, Theodore,” he says, and it’s then that I can see that there are more shadowy figures behind him, every single one’s eyes glowing that same terrifying red-orange, like a coal straight out of the heart of a fire. If I had one of those, that would be great, maybe I’d be able to blind Mister Marlboro, whatever the fuck he is, and then we’d be able to get ourselves the freaking hell out of here. That sounds like a good idea to me.

 

“I am speaking for myself, Mister Marlboro,” I say, and I can see that he even has the damn Camel cigar in the corner of his mouth. I’d say he was smoking his life away, but then again, a, he doesn’t even really count as a living thing, and b, I really don’t give a flock if he were to smoke his life away, that’d take care of him and I wouldn’t have to, but that’ll never happen. We’re at the crux here, where only one group gets to walk away mostly whole, because we all know that we’ll never walk away from this entirely whole again.

 

“Really?” he says, taking the damn cigar out of his mouth and crushing it on the ground, with what, I can’t tell, because it doesn’t look like he really even has feet anymore and why does this matter oh right it freaking doesn’t!

 

“Yeah, really,” I say, holding my ground, clutching a grenade in both paws, hoping I won’t have to pull the pins on them, hoping and praying and knowing that my prayers won’t ever be answered…

 

“Fine then, Theodore,” Mister Marlboro says, grinning wickedly, sharp, crooked pointed  _ deadly _ teeth glinting in the light. “We’ll just have to do this the hard way, since you can’t seem to grasp the concept of sense….”

 

“Oh, enlighten me, wise master,” I say, trying to distract him so everyone can escape why aren’t they running away to safety like they should be?

 

“Oh, so the fox finally gets it,” Mister Marlboro taunts back and I can’t fall for it I won’t fall for it…, “he’s an idiot in need of guidance from someone wiser, and thankfully for him,” he says, putting a hand over where his heart would be if he even had one, “I’m a great guide,” he says, taking a few steps closer as we all shrink back, “I am a lot wiser than him, and you know what, here’s my advice, Theodore: grovel like a dog, get on your knees and grovel like a fucking dog like you are. Maybe you could ask your friend Isaac here how you good, after all, he  _ is _ such a good boy oh yes he is, just like a golden retriever. Stupidest dog ever, but if you kick ‘em hard enough, they’ll behave. So Isaac, teach your friend here how to be a good boy and listen to his master, and then I’ll get you both nice collars,” he says, whistling. “Come here, Isaac, come here good boy,” he says, patting his legs like a human trying to call a dog, trying to egg Isaac on, and I can see that Isaac’s fighting as hard as he can to stay calm, and Mister Marlboro frowns and stands up, putting his hands? to his sides.

 

“What, nobody ever taught you to listen?” he laughs, pulling a whip out of nowhere to hold in one hand and a dog collar attached to a leash in the other. “I guess then I’ll have to teach both of you fucking mutts how to listen, hmm? Maybe I’ll kill your family first, have your kits killed. It doesn’t take much to get a hit placed on somebody, not when half of people on that basse are my kind, all ready to kill, and believe you me, both of you, they’d more than gladly do it, I’m their damn king, for crying out loud. So are you going to kneel down, you damn fools, or am I going to have to kill you?”

 

“Just kill me,” I say, trying to hide the fear that I’m feeling as I drop to my knees in front of him, hoping, praying that he doesn’t see that I’m eying his knees, planning to tackle him.

 

“Oh, so foxy here finally sees sense, does he?” Mister Marlboro says, snarling as he spits in my fur, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from crying, then he would just kick me again. I don’t know how he still has feet, but yep,  he does, and yep, there’s steel toe boots on them, yep yep yep holy fuck I’m going to die…

 

“Y- y- yes sir, I do,” I say, pressing my face into the ground, hoping that he’ll leave me alone, I’m submitting, I’m submitting! We aren’t pack mammals, us foxes, but we sure as fuck know know grovel for our lives! It’s saved most of us time and time and time again, so why not use it here to save all of our lives? Well, it probably won’t save my life, but then again, though, why does it really matter? Oh, wait, that’s right, my life doesn’t matter, what matters is that my family gets out of this alive, and well, let’s just say that it’d better happen pretty freaking soon, because those bandages that Mrs. Neve stuffed in her wounds aren’t going to last forever…. Damn, I’ve got to act, and I’ve got to act fast, or we’re all gonna die.

 

Course, I’ll be the one to go first, but I really don’t care. If this is how I go our, with a bullet through my head from the gun that’s currently pressed right to the nape of my neck, then, well, then I’ll be happy in my own way.

 

“I’m glad you do, Theodore,” Mister Marlboro says, taking the opportunity to spit another gob of phlegm and spit and blood into my fur, and I feel the barrel of that gun digging into my back again, but you know what? It’s nothing new to me any more.

 

“So,” he says, snarling and spitting in my fur again (I won’t break, I won’t break I’m not going to flocking break!), “do you want to die now or die later?”

 

“How about later?” I ask, forcing a smile onto my face and bending forwards a little bit to give myself at least a little bit more of a fighting chance to survive this.

 

“Nah, I’m good, I don’t think so, Theodore,” he says, and all of a sudden, instead of the barrel of a gun, I feel the hard, cold,  _ sharp _ tip of a sword, a freaking enormous sword, pressing it into the back of my freaking neck even harder, and this time, I can’t keep myself from crying out in pain (and actually crying, too…. freaking hell, I’m going to die please Karma don’t let me die…)

 

“Please, Mister Marlboro, please!” Mrs. Neve pleads, pulling his focus off of me for a second, and I lean forward, shocked to find that he’s not paying attention, and I dive for his knees, throwing him off balance, which gives me the split second that I need to be able to get back on my paws and try and kick the sword away. The first part of that whole goal works, and I dash away as quickly as possible, but still not quickly enough as Mister Marlboro manages to get a hand on my tail.

 

The pain starting to overwhelm me, I just turn around and sink all of my fangs into Mister Marlboro’s leg, and I’m pleasantly shocked and surprised and really,  _ really _ pleased that it works, and he yelps in pain.

 

Actually, if I’m being entirely honest-

 

Oh, shit, never mind,  he’s coming back at me, and he’s got a bigger weapon this time and holy fucking shit!

 

_ Damn I need to watch my mouth but how is that important right now? I’m too freaking busy trying to save my hide, rather literally, and then also not to die and holy crap that was close! _ I think as Mister Marlboro manages to get back on his feet and then starts out swinging that damn enormous sword at me, the blade swishing as it flies through the air, and I’m starting to feel really nervous, because even though I’m still on my paws, I’m barely staying alive here, barely avoiding losing some serious fur and skin off of my back and head and oh my god I need to run.

 

That’s exactly what I do, and there’s only one problem with that- everything works great when you have a way to go and enough space to get there, but when you have your back to a cliff, kinda like the freaking mess that I’m about to find myself in, what with Mister Marlboro and his goons starting to surround me and nothing but an enormous cliff and death and trees at my back.

 

It’s  _ so _ much damn fun!

 

_ Okay, let’s see, what are me options here? _ I think, fear flooding my mind even more than it already had.  _ I could climb the trees, I suppose, but then that damn sword would do me in because it looks like it’s a heck of a lot more powerful than a single tree. _

 

_ Before I left this freaking planet the first time around, before I went to Earth, I had to practice climbing trees all the freaking time, and sometimes, they’d send some cat teacher over to our school to chase all of us students up them. _

 

_ That’s kinda backwards, actually, now that I think about it… the cat chasing the fox, not the fox chasing the cat. _

 

_ Life’s weird like that, I guess…. And yep, I’m definitely trapped here, and every single damn Sturgman has a gun, and they all have those guns trained right at my damn nose, as if a shot to the nose would stop me… _

 

_ I’m a freaking hell of a lot tougher than that, and I still have two bone grenades strapped to my belt that I’m of course more than willing to use it the occasion calls for it. _

 

“Are you going to take your death now or later, Mister Aspen?” Mister Marlboro asks, struggling to his feet once again and damn it, he has another gun, I realize as he pulls another gun out of his pocket, and damn it, where to all of these guns keep coming from?

 

“Like I said, James,” I say, shivering involuntarily as Mister Marlboro’s red-orange eyes drill into me, “I don’t really give a flying flock or even a flying fuck, only to my mate, not to you, I don’t roll that way. Tony and Calvin are gay, but, um dude, you’re a freaking creepy beast and they’re already each other’s mates, so, yeah, if you’re looking to fuck with someone, dude, not now, that’s just icky. Gross, man, aren’t you supposed to be paying attention?”

 

“Theodore, that was supposed to be your job,” he says, shaking a finger at me. “Didn’t they teach you anything in class back here on Terra before they sent you to me? Don’t fucking underestimate me, fox, or I’ll put one through your head. You know, it doesn’t take much work to get a fox to off themselves…”

 

“And how would you know?” I snarl, gripping this damn sword even harder in my paws, my knuckles blanching out from how hard I’m holding the handle, feeling my hackles rise in anger, and even more than that, though, out of fear, to try and puff myself up and keep myself cool and collected.

 

“Why do you think your mother killed herself, Theodore?” Mister Marlboro asks, smiling wickedly, his teeth looking even sharper in the light, glinting bright and pointy and even deadlier, if that’s even possible.

 

“Out of grief more than anything, so I’ve been told, asshat,” I say. “Or are you trying to tell me that-”

 

“It was my idea? Yeah, it was, the damn bitch, I’m surprised she even managed to live as long as she did what with how mentally fucked up she was. She was weak, though, and it only took me helping your father cover up his death to get what I wanted- you and your mother. Her out of the way, you safely on your way into my welcoming arms and into certain death. Who do you think the Army messenger was that day? It wasn’t an actual army soldier, that’s for sure. You know, being like me is pretty great, Theodore-”

 

“Stop calling me Theodore,” I say, letting an angry growl slip my throat. “If anything, just call me fox. Theo’s what my friends and family call me, and you’re sure as freaking hell not on any of those lists.

 

“Fine then,  _ fox _ , if that’s what treatment you want, then fine, I’ll give you that small liberty at the very least. If you want to die, then I’ll give you that to. You have my sword, so go right ahead, but know this, fox- Isaac’s going to be pretty damn sore come the next several years if he isn’t dead, James and Alaina too, and if all the rest of them haven’t died of STDs, well, I’ll be damned. The rest of them? Heh, like hell if I give a fuck. I’ll feel awfully sorry for them if they’re not dead by then. Why don’t we start off now? I’ll feel awful for you if you don’t…”

 

“Yeah, you will be,” I say. “But only a coward backs his enemies to a cliff. Dude, that’s not even fair, didn’t they teach you that? If you’re going to kill someone, which I can tell you really want to do to me, you have to at least let them get a fighting chance, you know?”

“Oh, I know, but who gives a fuck about the Geneva Convention? Rules of war? I don’t give a shit, Theodore, so make up your mind or I’ll sever your fucking head from the rest of your body, and then your mind won’t work.”

 

“So what are my options, then, Mister Marlboro?” I ask, snarling at him, holding the handle of the sword even more tightly in my hands now, readying myself to swing it to defend myself.

 

“Oh, I’ll give you a shot, Theodore,” he says, and I sigh. Some people, or creatures, I guess I should say, really, don’t ever learn… it’s Theo, asshat, Theo Michael Neve-Aspen, so get it right…

 

“So when’s that going to happen?” I ask, leaning against the hilt of the sword, feeling my palms start to sweat and hating it and hating that they have pads on them, they’re annoying, and again, what does this have anything to do with the fact that I’m going to die if I don’t act quickly.

 

“How about now?” Mister Marlboro asks, throwing his cigarette butt at me, and I dodge it, only to have the flat side of yet _ another _ weapon slammed across my back, and by this point, I can barely see anything because I’m crying so badly, and there’s no way that I’m going to be able to see what with the way that these damn tears are fogging up my eyes…

 

“Damn it!” I snarl, fishing with my belt to pull a grenade off of it and managing to get one off of it before Mister Marlboro slams his sword down across my back again, but I don’t let go of the grenade. Instead, I pull the pin, and I manage to throw it right behind us.

 

Now normally, I wouldn’t do that, because, well, you know, it’s a freaking explosive thing, but screw it this time, it’s a bone grenade, it’ll hurt him a damn lot more that it’ll hurt me, that’s for sure.

 

A few seconds of us trying to strangle each other later, trading leads every few split seconds, the grenade goes off, spraying shards of metal and bone and light from the explosion out with it, and I hit the ground, feeling sharp little pieces of metal dig into my skin, and Mister Marlboro ends up blown backwards by the bang of the grenade and the pieces of bone and metal, thank god and Karma, but shit, he’s still moving and I don’t think this sword’ll kill him…

Regardless of whether or not it’s going to kill the damn thing, though, I know that my back freaking hates me right now on account of all of the teensy, tinsy little pieces of metal that I’m sure have torn up my back and shredded my skin, but that’s really the least of my concerns right now, because I have the upper paw now- Mister Marlboro’s on the ground, and something in me just wants to drive the sword that I’m holding between my paws through this damn thing’s head after what he’s done to me, and I think it might actually be able to kill him this this time….

 

He’s down on the ground, and I have the sword…. But should I? Not that I give a flying fuck about his life, just that I’m freaking surrounded by all of his buddies…

 

But then again, I have another grenade, and I have a pretty freaking awesome sword that I’m going to use!

 

_ That’s exactly what I’m going to do, that is, if I can manage it, _ I think, feeling my paws shake as I try to keep a grip on the sword, and  _ shit! Of freaking course! Ow!  _ is all I have time to think as Mister Marlboro’s legs swing around to knock me off my paws, and as I fall, I jam my ankle, and the sword slips out of my grasp, barely, just barely, but that little more than an inch is enough to keep it out of my paws as Mister Marlboro jumps on top of me, and I can see his eyes glow brighter and more maniacally, and I try not to freak out any more than I already am right about now at the very, very,  _ very _ real possibility that I’m now going to die. He could’ve just just pushed me off of the cliff that we’re at the top of, that would’ve worked too.

 

What it means for me right now, though, is that, if I’m going to try and roll myself over to throw him off of me, I’m going to have to be really, really  _ really really really _ careful to make sure that I don’t get hurt, or worse, much, much worse, roll off and fall to my death. That would just be plain stupid and pitiful, considering what I’ve managed to get myself through alive, or at least mostly so.

 

“So are you going to just give up yet, Theodore?” he asks, deciding to be kind and pull the gag out of my mouth to let me speak before then dropping an armored knee into my crotch, and I howl in pain oh holy freaking fucking hell that HURTS, it fucking hurts like no pain that I’ve ever felt before and I can’t say that I really ever want to have to ever ever ever feel again, thanks but no, I’ll pass!

 

“No, James, no, I’m not,” I say, gritting my teeth against the pain of having myself nutcrackered… let’s just say I’m happy I’m a dad now, ‘cause I don’t know how likely it is that I’m going to be able to have any more…

 

“Why not?” Mister Marlboro asks. “Why not? My men are all waiting for their fun times with you and your family, so why don’t you just make it easier on yourselves? Give up now, and maybe, just maybe, I might even let them go… think about that… but of course, you’d have to turn yourself in first, so it’s your choice, either you live or they do…”

“No, I think I’ll take all of us,” I say, squirming, trying to fight him off of my chest, and why is he putting something over my mouth oh holy shit he’s going to try and suffocate me because he’s stuffing a piece of fabric in my mouth… and I can’t even move because there are more Sturgmen pinning my paws down…. Holy freaking shit, I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

 

“Theo, here’s the thing,” Mister Marlboro says, ramming those steel toes between my legs once again, “you still haven’t realized that you’re not worth anything more that the pelt on your back. You know, for some reason, fox pelts, tod pelts particularly, they tend to sell better if the fox in question’s been fixed.”

 

“Well, Mister Marlboro,” I say, trying once again, and again to no avail, to break out of the bonds that I’m trapped in, “it’s too bad that nobody’s ever really been able to say that I’ve been entirely together, so yeah, my pelt’s not going to sell really well, why don’t you just let me go, you bastard?”

 

“Bastard? My parents were married, but yours? Yeah, I don’t think they were. I’ve heard it’s true what they say about foxes,” he says, bending over so that his face is just inches away from the end of my snout, his teeth nearly spearing the end of my nose.

 

“And what’s that, tailhole?” I ask, taking the opportunity to spit in his face to try and distract him and get his attention off of me.

 

“That they just screw all winter just to stay warm? How true is that, hmm?”

 

“Couldn’t tell ya,” I say. “Not with my mate, at least, and besides, you asshole, she’s pregnant. You leave her alone, I see that fucking look on your face, or can I even call it a face? I really have no idea,” I taunt, “because it’s so fucking ugly that I can’t really tell. Can you tell me if it’s your face or not?”

 

“It’s my fucking face, you pelt!” Mister Marlboro says, losing his cool and going to take another kick at my crotch.

 

Thankfully, for my sake and the sake of any of my future children, I’ve pissed him off, and he misses, the kick catching my leg, instead, which I wrench out of the grip of the damn creature that had decided that it wanted to cling onto the end of it, and I manage to get ahold of his leg and pull him to the ground, and lucky, lucky, lucky for me, I have my sword again, and I’m now the one putting a knee into his back and holding a sword to the back of his neck, and nope, that won’t work. Only one thing will- another grenade, I think, and yep, I have one more, and ooh, lucky me, his mouth is open, so I pull the pin and stuff it in, and run away, only to find myself trapped by all the rest of his buddies. Shit shit shit shit shit, I’m screwed I’ve only got maybe ten more seconds or so, not even that long until the freaking thing goes off, and welp, my back is about to be even more full of metal shards-

 

_ Kaboom! _

 

Another enormous explosion sends me flying backwards, over the edge of the cliff and through and apparently, this grenade was one of those that was way too powerful and that someway, somehow, the best of us are still alive, but that also means that I’m surrounded by what looks like it’s more than a hundred replacements, and if I’m being entirely open and honest about this whole thing, I’d have to say that the replacements, seeing how they’re more than twice the size of and with mouths full of even more, even sharper teeth than the original, are even more intimidating than Mister Marlboro, and I’m surrounded by a freaking scat ton of them… and I don’t know if Mister Marlboro’s even dead, because I’m barely standing, feeling the sting of even more teeny tiny bits and pieces of shrapnel digging into my back, shredding my skin open, and really, I’m fighting myself here, I can fight, it’s really just a question now of whether or not my body’s going to be able to handle it.

 

It’s going to have to, though, because I’m currently a flying fox for the third time in my life, and from the looks of it, I’m going to hit the ground in a second or three…

 

The next second feels like it drags on for a million Earth years, a million overly, terrifyingly, painfully agonizing Earth years, but then it’s over, and I slam  _ hard  _ into the ground, and my brain decides that it really wants to call it quits right now, but no, I can’t fall asleep I can’t I can’t  I can’t, yet despite my protests, my eyes shut, and the world goes dark.

 

When I wake up, my head is pounding, my eyes hurt, my tail is  _ definitely _ broken, and I can’t move. When I try to, I can’t, and I feel the chafe of the thick ropes that bind me to whatever I’m tied up on. From the chafing behind me, against the skin on my back, I’m going to take a wild stab at it and say that it’s a tree, and yep, I’m still surrounded by Sturgmen. I don’t see the large one with the brightest eyes, though, so that gives me a little bit of hope, at the very least, a hope that I’m going to cling to as long as I can, either until I die, which isn’t going to happen here, or I get free, but even then, I’m going to need that hope to help me carry myself back home.

 

“Oh, so the damn bastard’s finally awake,” I hear one of the voices say, and I look around to see who says it, and it looks like it was yet another Sturgman, this one’s filthy fur covered in patches of scars and burns, and it’s dressed in rags, rags that look like they could’ve once been part of an Army uniform but wait a second, that’s a human’s Army uniform, rather, an Army uniform for someone from Earth. I wonder where that would’ve come from….

 

“Yeah, I am, no thanks to any of you,” I say, trying once again to get my arms free from the bindings that hold them and failing for a third straight time, no third time charm for this fox...

 

“No, you should be thanking us,” one of the creatures snarls, coming up to me and pressing one of its claws into the middle of my throat, and I gulp. “Silly fox, you thought you could leave Terra and leave it behind? You’re a freaking animal, you weren’t ever a person, and you never will be, you never can be. You’re a fox, and you’d be surprised how horribly we can treat people and mammals. Wanna find out?”

 

“I’ll pass, thanks,” I say, fighting my bladder from letting go and a few seconds later, the warm spot tells me that it didn’t go well.

 

“You’ll piss yourself too, I see, you mongrel bastard,” the Sturgman says. “How dare you come to our planet and try to get us to go away? You’re not from here anymore, so I’ve heard through the grapevine…. You’re a filthy Earthling pelt… you don’t deserve to live, you’re nothing, fox, nothing…”

 

“And that, you bastards,” I say, another harsh snarl slipping out of my throat, and the Sturgmen don’t flinch, not even the teeny, tiniest little bit, “is why I’m going to prove all of you filthy freaks wrong…”

 

“My, my, my, such awfully angry and strong words from a fox who’s tied to a tree… you need to learn to think twice, you son of a vixen, otherwise I’ll put a bloody gash through the middle of your throat. Think before you speak, Theodore, it could help you stay alive for more than the next few minutes. That sounds really like it’d be a good idea, right, staying alive for a few more minutes… your kits aren’t going to want to grow up as orphans, and I think you’d be able to speak out of your own personal experience just how awful that is, right?”

 

“Oh, I sure can,” I say, fighting to keep myself calm and the anxiety out of my mind where I can feel it, burning away my reason and sense but no, I can’t let it do that and I won’t let it do that. I am in control of my feelings here, I am Theo, I rule my mind, my mind is not me, it is not in control of me, I in control of it, I am strong and I am a fox! 

 

“So when would you like me to start lecturing? I ask, plastering the Worlds’ most smart-assy grin on my face that I can manage to conjure up. “I’m pretty good at yammering if you want to try me out. Maybe I should practice first?” I quip, stalling for time, hoping that they won’t notice that I’m trying to use my claws, as dull as they are, to cut the ropes that are tying me on here.

 

“Never, you flea-bitten son of a vixen,” I hear one of them say, and I smile.

 

“So, now then? So what should I yammer on about?”

 

“What is it about ‘never’ that you damn Terrans never fucking get? Damn, you guys are idiots…”

 

“Maybe that’s what I could talk about!” I say, and one of the Sturgmen, the one who just cursed me out, loses his temper and comes over to me with my new sword, tossing it between his two hands. Wait, can you even call them that? Ah, it doesn’t matter.

 

“You say so much as another word, you bastard, and this sword’s tip is going to go right through your damn head.”

 

“You wouldn’t kill me,” I say, sticking my tongue out at him, trying to piss him off even more.

 

“And why the fucking hell wouldn’t I? You’re a fucking Terran, the scum here, you shouldn’t even have been born. Lemme guess, your mom liked standing on the corner?”

 

“You damn bastard, how dare you say that about my mother?!” I growl, trying to cut the ropes again, and failing again, only managing to get a few of the strands of rope cut through…

 

“I do and I will, and you know what? I’m not really leaning towards being nice to any of your family members after I kill you, you know, and your family and friends back on Earth? Believe me, we will find them. Barre, was it? I hear that’s where our dear friend Mrs. Neve settled down after I killed Mister Neve, so do you know her?”

 

“Know her? Yeah, of course I do, she was my math teacher…”

 

“Too bad you’ll never get to go back to that life, Theodore, and what are you keeping from us? What else do you know, fox, that you’re keeping from us? And don’t say nothing, you won’t be fooling anyone, you pelt…”

 

“Pelt? What pelt? You’re not going to be able to get much of anything for mine, considering that I’m barely staying conscious right now because my back’s been all torn to shreds, so unless you like the idea of cleaning the floor with me, well, then, just cut me down and let me go.”

 

“Well, sure, since you’re offering to be our mop, then sure, we will, like you said, it’ll be the only use that we’re going to be able to get out of your damn pelt, I think…,” the Sturgman says, slicing the ropes that bind me to the tree with a few quick flicks of a long claw, leaving me crumpled and aching on the ground. It’s then that all of them decide to start to kick me, not in the ribs, not this time, but right in the back and legs and holy flock I can’t fight them I’m too sore to move, and then they’re shoving me around, and it’s at that point that my brain decides to call it quits, and the black that’s been swimming at the edges of my vision takes me whole.

  
  
  
  
  



	16. Chapter Sixteen: Suck Central

Chapter Sixteen: Suck Central

* * *

Of freaking course… as soon as I wake up, I'm surrounded in darkness, and my head hurts, my throat feels like it's about as raw as raw can be, and I'm not tied up, but the sluggishness that I feel, well, I've either got a pretty damn serious concussion, or maybe my system's all full of drugs or some scat like that, and actually, you know what, both of those are plenty possible, and what's even more possible is that I've got a little bit of both going for me right now. Well, not so much for me, more against me, but you get what I mean...

"Well, well, well, well," I hear a voice chuckle in the darkness, and for once, I'm thankful for my sharp eyes, usually they see a little too much. Being able to see in the dark is wonderful, although I wish I didn't have to see what I do; there's a Sturgman right in front of me, his teeth a few inches away from my face. I don't know how I didn't see him before, but somehow I didn't know... my God I'm going to pay for what I did, damn it, I knew I shouldn't have been so cheeky…

"So the mighty Theo Aspen finally gets knocked down a peg or two, now doesn't he, how wonderful … we're going to have a wonderful time with you…," the voice chuckles, and then I can see that it's a Sturgman… damn it!

"Leave me alone, you bastard!" I curse at him, spitting in his face, "just leave me the hell alone!"

"Now why would I do that?" it asks, grinning. "You know, we're not after anyone else but you, so why would we leave you alone?"

"B- b- because I have a family to go back to, please, I've got a family, a mate and kits…," I plead, knowing I sound pitiful and hating it...

"You should have thought about that before you came here to Terra to try and kill us all, Theodore…" the creature says, stepping closer to me, and I can see it smile wickedly at me.

Seriously," I say, "what do you want with me? I'm just- I'm just- I'm just- I'm- I... What did I ever do to any of you?"

"Seriously, Theo? You have the nerve to ask me that question? You know what you did to us, you son of a vixen," the creature laughs, cold and harsh, sending ripples of cold down my fur, rather literally. "you know what you did, so why you asking me? Oh, that's right," the creature says, laughing again. "I remember why you're asking me, it's because you're too stupid to realize that you're stupid… poor little foxy, he's too damn stupid to see how much of a mess he's in... You do realize, Theodore, you're not going to be able to get out of this alive, right? I'm just going to kill you here and get this done with…"

Actually," I say, "I was really hoping that you wouldn't kill me, I mean didn't you hear me I have a few commitments back on Earth to take care of?"

"Once a Terran, always a Terran, you're going to have to fight- so make your choice, Theo, either you defend your family or we bomb the living shit out of this entire planet... I've had a lot harder choices that have had to make, believe you me, Theo."

"Look, you bastard," I say, "what is it going to take you to realize that I'm not a Terran, I'm from Earth?

"You sure as hell don't look like an Earthling to me, I mean I didn't know that there were walking talking foxes native to Earth… are the humans doing some cruel experimentation on themselves trying to turn themselves into animals? I mean I've heard of furries, is that what's going on here? The furries are taking over?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I've always been a fox," I say. "I thought I was a Terran once, I thought I was, but this planet is treated me horribly and you're no exception, I say, laughing. You're really no exception…."

"Well, then I'm glad to know you're getting the treatment that you're used to, Theo," it says, stepping closer to me, and I can smell the rot and crime and filth plain putrefaction on its breath.

"Your breath smells awful, you know, haven't you guys ever heard of brushing your teeth?" I say grinning. I'm trying to scare them off a little bit even though I know it's not going to work, I'm probably going to die right about now, oh my God oh my God oh my God...

"We have pretty damn strong noses too, you know, Theo, I can smell that you're scared… don't try and hide it, you know, you're going to die, so why not just accept that and curl up and be submissive like any good fox would do…?"

"Because I'm not just any good fox, that's why… I'm a person not just a mammal, you guys on the other hand I don't know what you are, can't say you're mammals, I've never seen anything like you, and you're sure is freaking hell not people. Why don't you just leave me alone? I never did anything to you, it was your freaking leader, your king, that did something to me, not the other way around! Can't you guys get that straight?"

"No, Theodore, we can't."

"Why the freaking hell not?"

"Because things like you don't deserve to live, mother fucker…"

"You wish you could," I say, taunting him once again, trying to get a rise out of him. "But you're still no more than a sorry son of a bitch who thought he could get a nice piece of tail out of it, but no such luck here, asshole, what do you want? A piece of me? You're not going to get that here, you know, since I have a mate and a family, and, oh and I'm straight, by the way asshole!"

"You know that mouthing off to me, Theodore, that that's just going to get you killed, right? You really are just an idiot… a fucking idiot who doesn't know that when you mess with the bull, you get the horns."

"Really? Because I don't see any bulls around here, so are you trying to say that you have horns? I really had no idea that Sturgmen had horns… I thought you guys were all bark and no bite, kinda like dogs, so if you're really a bul,l doesn't that make you guys the animals?

"Oh wait, I forgot you're not animals, you're perfect, you're meant to, wait am I getting this right? You're trying to save the Universes? Well, then get out of ours, because you're not saving it, you're making more of a mess of it! I was trying to help, you god damn freaking son of a vixen… screw you!" I yell, nearly screaming at the top of my lungs, "screw you!"

"Now now, Theo," he chides me, poking me with another claw, drawing blood this time...  _these scratches could get infected,_  I think.  _I really don't I don't need another infection, I've had enough of this planet…. Get me out of here!_

"Now now, Theo…"

"What? I ask. "Seriously, what do you want with me?"

"This is why I think Terrans are an idiotic race," he says. "It's because you can't get it through your head, we want you because you made a freaking mess of our leader now it's kind of our job to pay back the favor, Theodore. It's wonderful, and it's what you want, right?

"No, no, it's not all what I wanted, what I wanted was a plain, pleasant life where I could just, you know, live out my days in peace, so why you dragging me back into this mess?" I ask, and then I thought hits me-

"It's because of what my father did, isn't it?"

"Your father?"

"Corporal Matthew Aspen, that nasty son of a vixen,does that name sound familiar? Red fox about my height, would be really kind of cranky, and then he smokes, just like your leader?"

"Oh yeah, him," the Sturgman says, twisting his claw into my chest, and it's all that I cam possibly do not to pass out again right now, because I know that I'd never wake up again, and I really don't want to die right now…

"Unfortunately, though, we're not really ever in charge of our future, but then again, it's not in charge of us, either. It's what we make of it, Theodore, so what are you going to make of it?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," I say, gritting my teeth to try and fight the pain again, "I have no idea, because I don't know if I'm going to survive the next ten minutes…"

"Honestly, you'd be lucky to survive the next two…"

"See, and that's exactly what I mean…," I say. "You think you have me beat, and yeah, I'm pretty fucking beat to shit right now, and damn it, where's all this language coming from? It's not like me…."

"Well, that's one of the things that both you and I have in common, Mister Aspen," the creature says, grinning at me again and leaning in until its teeth are just a few hair's breadths away from the end of my nose, which I can't stop from quivering in fear, just like a little prey mammal would, and I hate it!

"No freaking way, you bastard!" I say. "You're trying to say that we have a few things in common? In that case, you damn freak, you're a heck of a lot more deluded than I ever thought you really could be…!"

"Deluded? What, me? Deluded?" the creature asks. "No, Theodore it's you, you who are deluded here in thinking that you'll ever be anything-  _anything_  more than just a fucking pelt, you'll never be anything more...I know what I want, you on the other hand? You're just a fox trying to stay alive, how do you know what you want? Oh, that's right, you don't! Why don't you come to our side, Theo? I mean, how does that sound? Come to the dark side, we have cookies!"

 _It's Theo_ , I think,  _and honestly, um what the heck does that have to do with anything?_

"Nothing, Theodore, nothing I just wanted to talk to you, maybe, oh, I don't know,  _distract you?"_  the creature says, and it's only then that I realize that there's another one behind me coming after me with a sword, and I barely have time to get out of the way before the sword comes slamming down to the dirt beside me, just barely missing my ear.

"You're really not so powerful, you're hopeless and weak, you  _have_  realized that, haven't you?" the creature says, laughing. "It's me who has the power here, you never have had it, you never will. To think you ever could that's just even more foolish than I ever thought was possible from a creature like you you freak…."

" Okay, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," I say. "Besides, who are you calling freak? You're the one with no arms or no legs…"

"Why don't we just stop this meaningless talk and actually get down to business we've been talking for what? Twenty minutes? Thirty? and we've gotten ourselves nowhere…"

"That's fine with me," I say. "I don't care if we don't go anywhere, because that just means I get to stall for longer, and it just means you have less time to think about it when I swing this freaking sword at you," I say, doing just that.

Unfortunately for me, he parries, and I have to roll off again to the side, managing to bang my knees in the dirt again as I do.

" I won't let that stop me though I have a battle to win here, a battle that could determine the entire fate of the two Universes…" the creature says, snarling at me. "You know what I've noticed about people who are desperate?" the creature asks me, stepping closer and snarling.

"You know what I've noticed? I've noticed that, the more desperate people are, the more likely they are to try and block and stall, and you know what? That made me remember something- it's kind of exactly what you're doing, fox, and it made me wonder just how stupid you could possibly be…"

"Why do you keep stalling?" I ask, panting and trying to catch my breath. "Fight me you freaking creature!"

"So you really are desperate, Theodore," the creature says, "you really are, you're calling me the creature when you're the freaking abomination whose parents just decided to have fun with the seasons! My parents were married and you're calling me the freak? Make sense of that you son of a vixen!" the creature says, snarling at me and then slapping me across the face with the claws digging long rents in my cheek, and I can feel the blood starting to see from the cuts.

_Damn, if those don't leave scars I think I'm going to be pretty freaking lucky..._

"Yeah you are," the creature says, and I start backing up in shock, or I would if I could, except freaking tied to a tree!

"How did you hear that? I ask. "Can you- can you- can you read my mind? Get out of my head!"

"No I can't read your mind, Theo, but see, the thing is, you're a fox, you pretty much show all your emotions and thoughts in your tail in your ears. I'm just going to give you that tip now before I you know slit your throat or something like that. Believe me, that would be the easy way for me to do away with you, if you want me to do the hard way? I mean, you kind of seem like you're begging for it…"

"No no no no no no no no no no," I say. "Thank you mister, I'll pass, it's going to be kind of hard to kill you if I'm dead…"

That's kind of the point view in case you hadn't noticed that….!"

"What part of I'm stalling do you not get? I'm stalling you fucking son of a bitch!" I say, shouting, trying to fight the pain that I feel pretty much all over the place, pain that just wants to take me under, but no I'm not going to let it take me again, I already did that once, I'm not going to let that happen again, I am staying conscious this time!

"Good luck with that feels or creature says slapping me with claws again and I find myself barely hanging on to being awake feeling more fear than I think I've ever felt in my entire life all 16 years on it trying to fight its way out of me and instead burrowing its way into my heart

No, I'm not going to let it take over me…. no no no no... I can't let it do that, I need to stay calm I need to breathe! Breathe, that's what I need to do, breathe, I got it, just let me keep myself calm and not let the panic over take my mind like it's so wont to do… Damn it, I really hate that about myself...

"So are you going to give up or not, Theo?" the creature asks me, rubbing its hands together and I really don't know how it can do that, not with such long claws at the ends of each of one of its fingers, and I can see that its eyes are glowing even more brightly than before, brighter than I ever thought possible, right like a red hot coal. It's going to burn my life out, oh my God I'm going to die right now! I don't want to die, I'm too young to die!

Then again though… I'm honestly shocked that I survived this long, with the life I planned. It's not to say that my life's really been dangerous before this, it's just that I'm kind of shocked it's it's- That I don't even know what it is, it's sure as heck not a mammal and it's not like anything I've ever seen. The only word to describe it is just as itself, as a Sturgman, there's no better way to put it… I'm surprised that it hasn't killed me by now.

So then what's the best way to get out of here? I don't have a knife, I'm fighting this thing with a sword and I don't even know if it's going to kill it, because as far as I know the only thing that can kill it is some of its own bone, and I haven't used my last grenade yet, but that wouldn't work, it would mean trying to get in close range like, yeah- I'm in close range with that thing, and that would blow me to pieces too, and I don't want to die, I come too close to many times.

 _I'm right here at that precipice right now, I don't want to freaking die! I want to live and grow old and be able to see my family…. Damn, and I shouldn't have even left them, and yet I did! Now I'm here, and oh my God, I'm going to die, shoot!_  I think as I dodge another swing of the sword and the creature grins at me, rubbing its hands together evilly, which I don't even know how it's doing and still managing to keep the sword under control, yep nope, really don't know how that's possible.

Finally though, after block and dodge and block and dodge and block and dodge and block and dodge and block and dodge again and again and again and again and again and again and a-freaking-gain, I manage to dodge and parry one last time and get one stick in with my sword in the creature jumps back in surprise and shock and pain and I slash again, slash slash slash slash until the creature backs off for a second, even just a split second. That split second's all I need, and I jump on it, ramming my sword through its chest and even then though it doesn't die.  _How is it not dead? I thought it killed it I thought it was a bone sword… no wait, it wasn't, damn!_

"You think that thing is going to kill me?" the creature asks me as I pull the sword out of its chest, and it just looks at me as it's on the ground.

"Theo, you'd be really, really, really lucky if that thing could cut through my skin let alone, kill me. Dude, you're done!"

"Dude, really?

"Fine then, what would you prefer I call you? Fox? Freak? A fucking pain in the tail? Any of those sound fine to me, so you tell me, what you want me to call you?"

"You apparently can't listen, that just makes me think you're even stupider, you idiot! I told you already my name is Theo, and that's what I expect to be called!"

"In that case, I expect to be called your worst nightmare, because that is exactly what I'm going to be Theodore, you are never going to win…"

"You sound awfully cocky and self-assured," I say trying, to bluff again, hating how this whole thing is going around and around and around and around and around again in circles, circles that never seem to end! It's starting to drive me nuts!

_Oh wait no nuts for me, I'm not a squirrel, I'm a fox!_

Why can't I stop with all the puns? This is a literal life-and-death situation and all my brain can do is pun about it? Shut up, brain!

"But I do that, it seems like it's annoying you plenty, and that's exactly what I wanted. Now, Theo, now I'm going to beat you, you freaking pelt, the thing says. I have to take a breath and sigh at that.

"So are we actually going to try and kill each other?" I ask, "because you're doing an awfully awfully bad job of doing that if that's what you're trying to do... I'm still alive here."

" -and in case you haven't noticed, freak, I'm still alive here too. You wanted me dead, right? That's not going to happen, you freaking fox!"

"Really?" comes another voice from behind me, and I turn around to see who it is. Oh look who it is, it's my father with a bandage across his chest and another one where I got him better, holding that same gun that he had earlier… I sure hope he doesn't decide to use it on me, but I shot him, so really, him shooting me back wouldn't be any sort of shock to me, really...

"Leave him alone, you damn freak!" he says, pointing a knife at the creature, who laughs.

"You think that that tiny, pathetic excuse for a weapon is going to do anything to me, fox?"

"We'll just have to see, now won't we?" he asks, throwing the knife at him, and it just plinks off of his skin, harmlessly. Well, harmless physically, but in terms of the emotions that it seems to get out of the creature, well, those aren't harmless… in fact, they're about as far from 'harmless' as I think that it's possible to be, because he goes right after my father (why am I even still calling him that?) who tucks and rolls to get out of the way, and the creature is distracted, so I pull the pin on my remaining grenade and throw it closer to the middle of the mess that's going on here, and I run, like I'm good at…

I'm decently far away when the grenade goes off, and it still sends an enormous soundwave blast throughout the whole area, leaving my ears ringing again, and thankfully, this time, it doesn't feel like I've done any more damage to my ears or my hearing. That's the good part, although I've gotten knocked to the dirt again, and if feels like there are now even more tiny little pieces of metal in my back and in my sides, and I lift my now torn and tattered uniform top to see that there's plenty of blood staining and matting the fur underneath, and the pain is starting to overwhelm me again, but no, no, no, no, no, I can't let myself pass out, I probably wouldn't ever manage to wake up again, given how the Worlds are right now, I'd probably be killed in my sleep

And yeah, I'd rather pass on that, I kind of want to be able to get home eventually, no matter how long it takes, but I'm going home and I'm going home alive, not shipped there cold and rotting in a wooden box.

Of course, that's not going well, because I thought that grenade blast would have killed the stupid creature, but no such luck there, of course, once again, luck isn't on this fox's side: I can see the damn thing getting up off the ground, and it doesn't even look like I managed to do any damage to the freaking thing. Instead, it just looked like I pissed it off, so of course, that now means that the damn thing is searching me out. I don't know if it can really see very well, but I'm hoping that it can't hear me trying to crawl away from it as slowly as I can, hoping and praying, and I'd be no my knees with my paws together if I had the opportunity to, but no, I don't have the chance to right about now, I need to be running away as quickly as I can without making any more noise that could draw its attention to the red fox trying to sneak away through the grass, also better known as me.

"Come out, come out, come out wherever you are," the thing says, looking all over the area, trying to find me, and I see its eyes searching the ground looking for me. Thankfully, though, it doesn't see me as I crawl along the ground, as slowly and as quietly as I can.

I still have one trick up my sleeve though, and I'm going to be able to use it if that thing comes any closer. I may have filed my claws down, but I'm sure that they're still decently sharp, and I wait for the thing to come closer to me, and I slash the bottom of its leg, and it yowls in pain, looking around for whatever cut it before it realizes that I'm down here in the grass, and by that time, I'm ready for it. I don't have any real weapons, not in terms of claws, but that doesn't mean that the claws on my feet aren't filed down, and I still have my teeth! Those are plenty sharp!

As the creature dives at me, I hold my breath and wait until I feel the weight of it pressing down on me, its claws nearly reaching my fur, and actually, a few of them do manage to get really, really,  _really_  close before I bite it on the wrist, and it yelps, letting out a sharp yelp of pain before diving back at me, and this time, I manage to get a decent bite in, leaving my mouth full of something that tastes disgusting, and I realize that it's Sturgman blood.

I spit it out as best as I can before the damn thing swings at me again, and this time, the back of its 'hand' catches me across the back of the head, and I see stars, not even the good kind of stars like are in the sky that I can barely see through the smoke and-

Holy freaking hell, ow! The damn thing just got me again, and I shove it off as hard as I can. This time, I manage to get the damn thing off of me all the way, and the damn thing's lost a tooth, and that's great, now if I can only get to the dark thing-

"Ow!" I nearly yell as the damn thing hits me with the back of its hand again, knocking me to the ground, and almost on top of the damn thing's tooth, close enough so that as the damn thing tries to dive on top of me again, I can roll out of its way and grab the tooth, stabbing the damn thing in the chest as it comes down on me, and the freaking thing stops, and its eyes start to go glassy, and it falls backwards, dead finally, and I'm not leaving this damn tooth behind, it's as sharp as hell and I might need it…

Wait a second, that gives me an idea… I need more teeth, which means I need a rock. Looking around me for one, I see a small-ish one on the ground not too far away from me, and I snag it up and then smash lots more teeth out of the dead Sturgman's mouth, it's not it's going to be needing them any time soon. Me, on the other hand (or should I say paw?), I  _am_  going to need them- if Sturgman bone is the only thing that can kill one of these damn things, then I need as much bone as I can easily get, which, in this case, comes in the form of lots and lots and lots and lots of it, because with my luck, I'm going to have to kill a lot more of these freaking things, so I'm going to take the chances that I get to arm myself, and then, okay, yeah, wow I'm tired…

I need to pass out…

NO, no, no, no NO! I can't do that! I could die!

 _You'll be fine,_  my sleepy brain argues, and for once, I don't have the strength to argue with it, and I find a nearby rock outcropping to curl up under, and then I pass out.

When I come to, the first thing that I realize is that I fell asleep, and fuck, I hope I haven't been captured…

With that on my mind, I look around to make sure that I'm not being jailed in a cage somewhere or something like that, and nope, I'm not there, but nor am I underneath the rock ledge that I passed out under last night.

Wait a second, I've been moved, where the freaking hell am I? Holy shit where am I?

With that thought on my mind, I sit bolt upright, and it's then that I realize that I'm in another freaking hospital bed, and it's not any of the same ones that I was in when I was on Earth, which means I'm still on Terra, so where am I, and more importantly, where are those freaking teeth that I risked my pelt and life for?

"Are you alright there, Theo?" Mrs. Neve says, coming over to sit in the rusty metal chair next to my bed, and I take the split second before I answer her to take a look around. This looks like it's a battlefield hospital, we're in an enormous tent, and I see other beds, there's no power here, so there are doctors and nurses milling all around anxiously, taking down records on scraps of paper, a rarity in and of itself, both the fact that it's not digital, and also that there's still paper to be had and that it hasn't been requisitioned for the war effort, like I was expecting it to, to all have been snagged up to be used to pack munitions and other things like that.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," I say, still trying to get a decent look at my surroundings, and I can hear the roar of planes and ships overhead for what feels like the first time in forever, even from when I was back at home on Earth and the invasion was on, there were no fleets of ships flying overhead every few minutes like I can hear now…

"Where am I, anyways? I'm gonna make the assumption, damn the ass out of you and me scat, that I'm still on Terra? Yeah, that sound about right? What happened, anyways?"

"Well, what do you remember, Theo?" she asks me, putting a paw on my shoulder. "And does it have anything to do with the things you had in your paws when we found you?"

"I- I- I remember fighting the darn creature, and I killed it, it was dead, and then I was just hurting so damn much that I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and I just found some place that looked safe... "

"That's good, Theo… what were the things in your paws?"

"Teeth… Sturgman teeth, sharp too… I killed one, it scratched me to pieces, that was where I was… I went back to get myself weapons… I thought maybe, just maybe that we might end up needing them… they'll kill a Sturgman… I used one on it."

"That's good… um, Theo," she says, frowning. "I got a dispatch from Earth…"

"It isn't good, is it?" I ask, feeling ice starting to settle into my stomach at the sound of her words.

"No, it isn't. The camp got bombed again, lots of people died…. Jenna and Alaina are fine… but they've had to run, and they can't tell us where they've gone… that was the dispatch that I got. I'm sorry."

"So nobody, save for them, knows where they are?"

"Yeah, that's about right…"

"Shit…" I mutter under my breath. "Shit, shit, shit… so while I'm stuck here on an alien planet, my mate is gone, and nobody, not even the Army, has any idea where the heck she is?"

"And if they do, they're not going to tell us until we can get back to Earth and show ourselves in person, because they like to pull that sort of shit… I had to go through the same sort of crap when my husband was killed…"

"Was he a Terran like you?" I ask.

"No, he had no idea," Mrs. Neve says, and I can see a tear start to bead at the corner of her eye. "I never told him, I was like you, in a way, Theo, I wanted to leave the past behind and to never have to deal with it again, does that sound like you?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," I say. "Yeah, it really does… damn, I couldn't see that until now? I really am pretty blind, aren't I?"

"Well, I wouldn't say say that, exactly…," Mrs. Neve says, frowning.

"So then what  _would_  you say about me?"

"Do you really want to know, Theo?" Mrs. Neve asks.

"Uh, yeah, I do," I say, tapping my paw nervously. "So what would you say about me?"

"That you have serious anxiety problems? That you're in over your head here? What else is there for me to say, Theo, I mean, I figure you probably knew that all already, so then why are you asking me?"

"I just wanted to know if it was just me or if other people thought the same thing about me as I did…. Looks like you do, and no, that's not a bad thing, Mrs. Neve."

"Good, that's good then," Mrs. Neve says. "That's exactly what I was thinking, though, Theo, you're not wrong… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," I say. "Please, don't be. I have enough people in my life who all want to feel sorry for me, honestly, I'm getting kinda sick of it, you know?"

"You know I'm just trying to help, right?"

I sigh, letting out a breath that I didn't even really realize that I was holding in. "Yeah…, I know, it's just…"

"You feel like you fucked up again, I know, I get it, believe me. I had the same trouble when I was your age, you know…"

"As a human or as, well,  _you?_ " I ask.

She laughs, smiling. "As  _me_  me, you know, the snow leopard Bianca, and seriously, it's okay if you want to call me that instead of Mrs. Neve, seriously."

"What happened to Mister Neve, anyways? Was he a leopard like you, too?"

"Yeah, he was, wonderful person, wonderful mammal, then he got shot by, well… he tried to kill you too, and I don't mean the ghost thingy creature whatever…"

"My father…," I mutter, the realization sinking in. "Damn, I hope I don't mess myself up  _that_  badly…"

"You're going the opposite way, Theo, you're fine, seriously."

"Tell that to the side of my brain that won't shut up. The rational side of me knows I'm okay; the panicky, angsty, fox-don't-wannabe side of me won't leave me alone, and it's driving me nuts…."

"And yet they're two sides of the same coin, Theo, you're not one without having the other. Think about it, if you could do your life over again, would you do anything differently?"

"This kinda feels like it's a trick question…." I mutter.

"Well, it could be, it could not be. Honestly, it's what you make of it, just like life. So what's your answer? Would you do anything differently?"

"If I could end up better off, sure, I'd get rid of the part of my life that involved me flying a few times, I'd spare myself the broken ribs…"

"And you wouldn't have a mate or family, we'd probably all be dead because we wouldn't have known what was coming. You are you, you are always going to be yourself, Theodore Michael, so quit hating yourself, damn it!"

"I'm doing my dam best, you know…"

"Try harder, why don't you?" Mrs. Neve. "We need you all together for what's coming up ahead…"

"What's that?" I ask.

"There's a whole bunch of Sturgman on their way to where we are now, so, well, if we want to live and not be forced to please people for the rest of our lives…"

"What's that mean?" I ask, and she whispers something in my ear that makes me blush.

"Oh, fuck…"

"Exactly, Theo, so we'd better run, don't you think?"

"Yeah… well, isn't life just suck central?" I say, and Bianca has to fight a snort.

"Yeah, exactly. Your head still hurt?"

"Like crazy," I say, and when I move my head, the pain makes my eyes water. "Are you sure we're not going to be okay if we stay here?"

"No, you're right," comes a voice from behind all of us that makes my skin crawl, and yep, there's the damn cigarette, "you won't be okay. This ends here and now, Theodore, so let's see, who gets to die first?"

"I volunteer as tribute!" Mrs. Neve says, putting a paw up, shaking slightly."

"Fine then," Mister Marlboro says, but instead of shooting her in the head, he shoots her in the foot, dropping her to the ground in pain.

_"Who's next?"_

* * *

AN: Well, it's been forever since I've written any of this story... I hope this chapter's still as good as the last.

**Author's Note:**

> Book One of three planned Terran Chronicles books.


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